What makes a good coach? Having played a particular sport at the highest level, or not having played it at all? It’s a debate alright, but one where you cannot help but think subjectively.
To back the first argument, take the fine example of Barcelona boss Pep Guardiola, who played for the Catalans and then went on to win 13 titles in his four years at the Nou Camp.
One of the best examples to illustrate the second is that of UAE Beach Soccer coach Marcelo Mendes, who never played the sport in his life, but is widely regarded as one of the finest coaches in the game today.
Like nearly every Brazilian, Mendes is a diehard fan of the ‘beautiful game’, but when it comes to beach soccer, “it was about playing soccer on the beach” he laughs.
Mendes’ record draws envy and admiration in equal measure. From humble beginnings in 1997, he went on to coach European powerhouses Portugal, Thailand, Uruguay, South Africa and Turkey before moving to the UAE, a place he calls “home away from home” and a team he led to consecutive AFC Beach Soccer Championship successes in 2007 and 2008, and more importantly, a stunning 2-1 success over Brazil in 2009.
A recent slump in form forced the Emirates into a fourth-place finish in the 2011 AFC Championship, but Mendes has taken corrective measures to arrest the slide and along with the Dubai Sports Council he stitched together the inaugural UAE Beach Soccer League that helped uncover a treasure trove of talent, which he believes is the future of UAE beach soccer.
Mendes & Co. will next month embark on a trip to the coastal town of Haiyang in the province of Shandong in east China to defend the Asian Beach Games title, which was won in 2010 in Muscat, Oman.
With the qualifiers for next year’s FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup also looming, the 42-year-old clearly has his hands full. Sport 360s Duane Fonseca sat down with Mendes, who took over as coach in 2006, to find out what lies ahead and how he plans to take the UAE’s name beyond Asia’s shores.
The UAE’s first ever Beach Soccer League got received the thumbs up from the high-profile foreign players who played in it, you must be really proud of the achievement?
I think for the first ever league to be held here in the UAE, it was fantastic – really, really very good. After four years, for the first time we had a chance to discover new players, by looking at the way they play and not because a friend suggested they come and join the team.
This for the national team of any country is very important! From my side, I’m very happy about the league and the organisation from Dubai Sports Council. They staged it in Fujairah, Sharjah and then the finals in Dubai, so I think this a very good first step.
In September we are expecting to have the Cup to follow the League, which was just played and then after that we’re also thinking of a President’s Cup. We want to go the same way as football in the country, but on the beach!
You’ve transformed this team in a very short time. The UAE are always considered favourites in any Asian tournament now. So what’s next on your agenda?
If we talk about the national team then we’ve done a lot because we’ve achieved good results over these years. Other people know our team now, but to make the sport more popular to the local and expats we need to host tournaments like this, not only for the national teams but for the clubs.
Do you propose bringing foreign clubs here as well?
Exactly, so maybe in the future we can bring top international beach soccer playing clubs like Milan, Barcelona to come here and play against Al Ahli. That way we will motivate more people to come watch.
National teams are restrictive because if we have Russia playing the UAE then only Russians and Emiratis will come to watch, but if we bring Barcelona Beach Soccer then a lot of people love Barcelona so they’ll come. I think this is the next step to grow the sport over here.
What’s next for the UAE?
We’ve started training and I’ve selected some new players thanks to the tournament, so we will be creating a reserve team. So now we have a deep pool of players to pick from. We have identified a total of 30 players and we will work with them.
Our next step is the Asian Beach Games in China. We are the champions and we have a few weeks in which we need to work very hard to get ready because it’s a title we want to retain.
How do you look back at the four years you’ve spent in the Emirates?
They were well-spent. In Asia, we are among the strong teams. It’s Japan, Oman, UAE and Iran. A few other teams like Lebanon, Bahrain and China have started investing money, but we are always one of the favourites when it comes to Asia.
Sport is tricky and you cannot say what will happen during a game, but if you see our results so far they’ve been very good. In the Intercontinental Cup last year we lost narrowly to Brazil in the semi-final. It was a very difficult, but good game from our point of view.
We beat Nigeria, who placed fifth in the last 2011 World Cup and lost to Switzerland on penalties, so our players are improving and with this kind of competitions we will improve even more.
For a man who did not play the sport, you’ve come a long way haven’t you? Tell us more…
I started my beach soccer coaching career in 1997 and went on to coach Portugal for two years. I’ve coached Uruguay, Thailand, Turkey and now the UAE and am also a FIFA Coaches Instructor, so I coach coaches around the world as well.
It’s strange but I never played beach soccer before I started coaching. My father played the sport, but in Brazil 30-40 years ago people played 11-side football on the sand.
After beach soccer became popular in Brazil, playing fields were set up on beaches. My father played beach soccer, but I played soccer until 16-17 years and after that I stopped. But coming from Rio de Janeiro, I absolutely love football and the club I support is Flamengo.
What’s your favourite food?
I like Brazilian food. Black beans and barbecued meats are something I love, but beef is my favourite food and I love a nice beef steak.
Any hobbies?
Well football is, but apart from this sport I think playing tennis is my only hobby.
What do you like about Dubai?
I love to come to the beach with my family, just to enjoy sometimes and not to work. In Dubai, I can have this life because life here is quite similar to that in Brazil. We have our limits of course, but it’s quite similar. You can go with your family to the beach and enjoy.
