Today's Edition
KUUMAR SHYAM (ABU DHABI)
The UAE Football Association has confirmed the appointment of the Netherlands' Peter van der Veen as the Under-20 national team's new head coach. He replaces Salim Abdulrahman.
In a message on their social media channels, the FA expressed their thanks to Abdulrahman for his time in charge of the U20 national team and wished him "all the best in his future career".
The recently turned 54-year-old Dutchman has an impressive resume, having worked with the Netherlands national team's U15 to 20 age groups, as well as leading their U17 side to European Championship glory in 2019.
The UEFA Pro Licence coach has experience at club level with Dutch giants Ajax and Sparta Rotterdam's youth teams and managed Belgium second-tier side Lommel SK among some recent roles at Europe's best football clubs.
In the 2021-2022 season, he moved to Premier League, his first stint in the UK as assistant manager at Hull City, who had since gone down to the English Championship level.
He left after 23 games when Hull changed the coaching staff. They are heading back to the Premier League when the new season begins next month.
Van der Veen has been without a club for nearly eight months after a short-lived assistant manager role again with German club Wolfsburg. He takes over the UAE's second-rung team which has been trying to find its heady days from 2009 onwards.
The team won the Asian Cup in 2008 and have advanced to as deep as the quarter-finals stage at the FIFA U20 World Cup on two occasions – 2003 and 2009.
