Media: Cúper will resign, two candidates being considered to replace him

Argentinean specialist Héctor Cúper will be dismissed as head coach of the Uzbekistan national football team. This will be officially announced soon.

According to Kun.uz source, the decision was made by the leadership of the Uzbekistan Football Association (UFA) after the national team was defeated by Palestine (0:2) in the first match of the 2022 World Cup second round Asian qualifiers.

The contract with Cúper was concluded on August 1, 2018 and is scheduled until November 30, 2021 for the World Cup qualifying cycle. In case of participation in the World Cup, the contract should be renewed automatically. According to Kun.uz source, Cúper’s coaching staff has a salary of about €2 million per year. 

In total, under the leadership of Héctor Cúper, the national team of Uzbekistan held 17 matches in which they won 7 times and the same number of defeats, 3 games ended in a draw. At the Asian Cup this year, the team lost to the Australians in the 1/8 finals.

Currently, two candidates are being considered to replace Cúper: Georgian specialist Shota Arveladze, who has been heading the FC Pakhtakor since 2017 and the head coach of the FC Bunyodkor Vadim Abramov.

It is worth noting that before Cúper joined the team, Arveladze was already considered as a contender for the post of head coach. Negotiations were also conducted with the Portuguese Carlos Queiroz, who led the Iranian team to the 2018 World Cup. According to Kun.uz, then he requested a salary of $8 million.