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Football

21st Nov 2018

Shock candidate interested in becoming the new Ireland manager

Robert Redmond

This would be a shock appointment.

The Republic of Ireland are looking for a new manager and Carlos Queiroz is reportedly interested in the position.

According to Miguel Delaney, writing in The Independent, the Iran manager is keen on taking the vacant role.

Queiroz will leave his current post in January after the Asian Cup tournament. And sources close to the Portuguese coach have reportedly confirmed his interest in succeeding Martin O’Neill, who left his position on Wednesday morning.

Queiroz has achieved success with the Iranian national team over the last eight years.

He helped them reach the World Cup in 2014 and again in 2018, and made them competitive in games against more illustrious opponents.

Before Iran, the 65-year-old was Portugal coach between 2008 and 2010.

Queiroz will be most familiar to football fans in this part of the world from his time as Manchester United assistant manager.

He helped make Alex Ferguson’s team more defensively sound in domestic competition and in Europe. Ferguson delegated a lot of coaching responsibility to his former assistant.

In between spells at Old Trafford, Queiroz was the Real Madrid manager for a season.

It remains to be seen if he is a serious contender to replace O’Neill.

The former Sunderland manager left his role on Wednesday morning. Roy Keane, his former assistant, also left his post.

As it currently stands, Mick McCarthy is the favourite to replace O’Neill.

However, Queiroz’s pedigree means he may come into consideration.

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