Iraq confident ex-England football manager to lead team in Asia Cup

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Iraqi football officials say they are optimistic that England's former national team manager Sven-Goran Eriksson will sign up to lead their national team in 2019’s Asian Cup finals, Reuters reported on Friday.

This week, Eriksson met with representatives of the Iraq Football Association in Istanbul, and a source from the federation stated that he had agreed to take charge of the national team of Iraq, though no formal announcement had yet been made. However, sources close to Eriksson stressed that the 70-year-old manager has not decided whether he will accept Iraq’s offer or not.

Reuter's source said it would be discussed further by the country’s federation on Monday.

Iraq is scheduled to play in the 2019 Asian Cup finals, 12 years after the country claimed their only continental title. Iraq’s national team has been drawn with Vietnam, Iran, and Yemen in the group phase of the tournament, which will be launched in the United Arab Emirates on Jan. 5 next year.

Eriksson led England to the quarter-finals of the 2002 World Cup finals. Since the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, he has not coached at international level after working with the Ivory Coast.

His most recent role was in China’s second division when he spent half a season with Shenzhen FC. He also worked for some time with Chinese Super League sides Guangzhou R&F and Shanghai SIPG.

Before working as a coach with England, Eriksson won league titles in Portugal, Sweden, and Italy.

Editing by John J. Catherine