ISL 2018: Youth World Cup-winning coach Marcos Paqueta joins FC Pune City as Head Coach
The Rajesh Wadhawan Group and Bollywood star Arjun Kapoor co-owned Indian Super League (ISL) club FC Pune City today announced well-respected Marcos Paqueta as their new Head Coach. The Brazilian who has close to 30 years of coaching experience across youth, club and national team, will make his managerial debut in the Indian Super League with FC Pune City in the 2018-19 season.
After successfully managing youth teams of top Brazilian clubs for over a decade, Paqueta took reins of Brazil U-17 and U-20 national teams. Under Paqueta, the team won three titles each, including the 2003 FIFA U-17 World Cup and 2003 FIFA U-20 World Cup.
After his spell with Selecao youth sides, he shifted base to 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. He came back to Al-Hilal helping them win another Saudi Premier League title in 2006-07 season. Later, Paqueta coached Al- Gharafa (2007-09) and Al Rayyan (2009-10) with great success.
His consistent success rate prompted the 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. He then went on to coach Al-Shabab and Al-Gharafa in Oman and Qatar. In 2016, he went to Egypt to coach Zamalek FC where he finished runners-up. Last season (2017-18) 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. We welcome Marcos to the FC Pune City family.”
“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.