Indian Super League (ISL) club FC Pune City appointed Marcos Paqueta as their new head coach on Friday. The Brazilian who has close to 30 years of coaching experience across youth, club and national team, will make his managerial debut in the 2018-19 season. Paqueta replaces Ranko Popovic who stepped down on Wednesday after leading the club to semi-finals for the first time in the previous season.
After successfully managing youth teams of top Brazilian clubs for over a decade, Paqueta took reins of Brazil under-17 and under-20 national teams. Under Paqueta, the team won three titles each, including the 2003 FIFA under-17 World Cup and 2003 FIFA under-20 World Cup.
“From my conversations with the club, I understand that FC Pune City have a reputation for giving young footballers a great platform, a system that I have thrived in. There is huge potential at the club, and we will look to retain the core group of experienced players as well as some of the most exciting young talents in the League. I am excited for this new journey in India with FC Pune City,” said Marcos Paqueta.
He has also coached Middle East joining Al-Hilal Saudi Football Club. In his time with the club, he led them to winning Saudi Premier League (2004-05), Saudi Crown Prince Cup (2004-05), Saudi Federation Cup (2004-05) and King Fahd Cup (2004-05). His tremendous run with Al- Hilal got him the job to coach the Saudi national team at the 2006 World Cup.
His consistent success rate prompted Libya to rope him as their head coach. Paqueta, in two years (2010-2012), managed to catapult Libyan national team from 115 to 37 in world rankings. In 2016, he went to Egypt to coach Zamalek FC where he finished runners-up. Last year, he coached Al-Shorta in Iraq, where his team finished 3rd in the league.
Gaurav Modwel, CEO, FC Pune City, said, “Marcos Paqueta comes from a country where they live, eat and breathe football. In 30 years of managerial experience, he has won 22 trophies including the U-17 and U-20 World Championships with Brazil, which is a no mean feat. His ample experience in managing youth sides, national teams and clubs in Asia will help us build on the platform we managed to create from the last season.”
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