Formidable profile of Champions League runner-up coach leading Syria to play against Vietnam

The friendly match between Vietnam and Syria tonight (June 20) at Thien Truong Stadium (Nam Dinh) is also a competition between two famous and experienced coaches. Coach Hector Cuper of the Syrian team is a familiar name to Vietnamese fans who regularly follow international football.

During his 30-year career, the Argentinean expert has led many famous clubs in Europe such as Mallorca, Valencia, Inter Milan, Real Betis. The 67-year-old coach's most impressive achievement was helping Valencia reach the final of the C1 Cup - Champions League twice in a row.

Coach Hector Cuper

In 2000, Cuper's team lost 0-3 to Real Madrid. A year later, Valencia came closer to the title when they drew 1-1 with Bayern Munich, but lost on penalties.

The Valencia squad led by coach Hector Cuper at that time included many stars such as Santiago Canizares, Roberto Ayala, Gaizka Mendiata and Pablo Aimar. Didier Deschamps - the current head coach of the French team - was also in the Valencia squad at the end of his career.

During his time in Spain, Cuper also won the Super Cup twice (with Mallorca and Valencia), finished second in the UEFA Cup once and reached the final of the Copa del Rey once (with Mallorca). Don Balon magazine awarded the Argentine coach the title of best coach in La Liga in 1999.

Leaving Europe, Coach Hector Cuper went to work in Asia and Africa. He and the Egyptian team - with Mohamed Salah in the squad - won the right to attend the 2018 World Cup, and were runners-up in the 2017 AFCON African Championship. With these achievements, he was honored as the best coach in Africa that same year.

After that, Coach Cuper led the Uzbekistan and Democratic Republic of Congo teams in turn, but his performance was not very impressive with a winning rate of less than 50%.

Cuper was appointed as Syria’s head coach in February 2023. In his first two matches under the Argentine, the West Asian team won one and lost one. They beat Thailand 3-1 before losing 0-1 to Bahrain in a friendly in March.

Han Phong

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