Courtesy: dohastadiumplusqatar.com

New goals

PORTUGUESE Tiago Polido is a man who likes adventure. In 2005, he left the comforts of his home country behind to take up the role of an assistant coach at Santiago Futsal, a club in Galicia, Spain, one of the strongest nations in the sport. A year later, he became the first man from his country to oversee an Italian club — Real Futsal Arzignano. The 35-year-old also had stints in Croatia before taking over the Qatar national side recently.

Polido, who signed a one-year deal with the Qatar Football Association (QFA), has only one regret about his new assignment — having to stay temporarily away from his 10-month-old daughter Maria.

The soft-spoken Polido spoke about his specific plans for the national team in an exclusive interview with Doha Stadium Plus.

This is your first outing in the Middle East. What’re your expectations?

I coached in Europe for almost 10 years. But after a certain point, things started to get repetitive and I knew I was ready for a new adventure. The Qatar job will help me understand a new culture. It’s really important for a coach to experience different ways of life as it’ll make him a better professional. I’m happy to have been offered a chance to improve the game in Qatar. They’ve a great opportunity to move up in futsal.

How did the Qatar move materialise?

Some of my compatriots are in charge of club sides in Qatar and they told me about the opening here. After working in Italy for five years, I had won everything on offer there. I needed a change of scenario, a challenge, to reinvigorate myself. Once I reached out to the QFA, things gathered pace. Training a national team is a new experience for me.

Are you ready to don the garb of a national coach?

Training a national team isn’t like managing a club side. For example, the domestic league is a very important period for national coaches. He’ll get only very limited time, maybe three or four days each month, to select players from club sides and build them into a team. On the other hand, club coaches and players spend a lot more time together and they get ample opportunities to improve.

What’re the immediate challenges ahead of you?

The national team will play in a seven-nation competition in Malaysia, from October 1 to 3, which is a qualifying event for the Asian Football Confederation’s (AFC) Championship in Uzbekistan in February. We’ll face Iraq, Lebanon, Bahrain, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Jordan in Kuala Lumpur, with the best five making the cut for Uzbekistan. The top-four finishers will then progress to the FIFA Futsal World Cup in Colombia (September 10 to October 2, 2016).

Our primary aim is to reach the Asian Cup finals. If we could achieve this, it’ll be for only the third time ever. If we make it to Colombia, it’ll be a huge achievement. It’ll also help launch the sport in Qatar in a big way.

A few Al Rayyan players, who were away to take part in the AFC Clubs Championship, will soon return and we’ll start full-fledged training from Thursday.

Qatar are currently ranked 68th in the world…

For me, ranking isn’t the ultimate measure of a team’s competitiveness. If I want, I can play 20 friendlies against lower-ranked teams, in a month, with the sole aim of getting ranking points. It’ll surely reflect on the monthly ranking tables.

But for me, that isn’t the priority. It’s more important to qualify for the AFC Championship and FIFA World Cup. If we achieve that aim, our ranking will naturally improve.

You’ve signed a one-year deal with the QFA. Is that enough time to make a noticeable change?

Not at all. A coach requires at least three years to make a difference. I hope I can be in charge long enough to make it count. I wanted a longer contract, but since one-year agreements are the norm in Qatar, I went along with it. We’ll strive to do our best.

I’ll observe local tournaments closely and try to bring in fresh blood. It may not be possible for the competition in Malaysia, but after that, it’ll be among my top priorities.

Do you see a bright future for the game in Qatar?

The current national team has mostly Brazil and Egypt-born players, but they’re not the future of the side. At the moment, they’re important because they can help publicise the sport in Qatar and inspire youngsters to take it up.

I wish to assist the QFA in developing futsal at schools. We should actively engage schoolchildren in the sport as it’s the only way to ensure a new generation of talent in five to seven years. I’m willing to train coaches who can then work as talent spotters.

I’m still looking at how to make myself useful other than as Qatar coach. Starting futsal at schools won’t be easy. There’re a lot of stakeholders that we need to take into confidence.

You’ve never played professionally. Have you ever felt that’s a disadvantage?

I’ve never felt so. I was a regular competitor for school and college teams. Many of my friends became professional players, but my focus was always on academics. Having been very active in the game, I perfectly understand the players’ mentality. The negatives, if any, of not having been a professional player, is quite negligible.

To be a good coach, you need to understand the players, their psychology, methodology, planning and organisation. Not all athletes make good coaches. It’s much more than just playing experience.

I’ve worked with some of the world’s best players and they taught me a lot. I always keep an open mind when interacting with them. Sometimes, when I suggest a plan of action, they tell me how to improve on it. It’s their experience doing the talking. I always give such opinions great respect.

How did you begin your coaching career? How has the experiences been?

After completing a five-year course in physical education and a two-year masters degree in match analysis, I started working as an assistant coach at Portugal First Division club Miramar Clube Valadares. I was also involved with Portuguese sides Braga and AAUTAD/Realfut. I learned about the scientific and theoretic aspects of futsal in Portugal.

In ’07, I moved to Spain as an assistant coach at Santiago Futsal. The game in Spain is as intense as the NBA matches in the US. I got to test my wits against top managers in a highly-competitive atmosphere. It also taught me how to manage the team’s superstars.

Croatian side MNK Split were the first team I independently managed. The country gave me some unique experiences. For example, my players used to travel a lot during league season. Despite giving them two days’ rest, they still appeared very tired. I couldn’t understand why. Later, I realised they were playing in non-sanctioned tournaments to earn some extra money. It was unprofessional, but they weren’t well paid and I had to adapt to the situation.

Such experiences prepared me well for the Italian challenges. I had very good players at my disposal and we achieved great results. I made a name for myself as a successful coach.








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