France´s Metsu named Qatar coach

France's Bruno Metsu, who resigned as United Arab Emirates coach at the weekend, was on Thursday named as boss of the Qatar national team.

The two-year contract was signed by Metsu in the presence of Sheikh Hamad ben Khalifa ben Ahmed Al-Thani, the president of the Qatar football federation, during a press conference with other high-ranking Qatari sports officials.

Qatar have little time to waste in preparing for their third match in the final phase of Asian 2010 World Cup qualifiers in Australia on October 15.

Metsu knows Qatari football well having coached first division club Al-Garafah in the 2004/05 season.

Metsu resigned as UAE coach on Sunday because of poor results and was replaced on Thursday by compatriot Dominique Bathenay.

The 54-year-old Metsu had been coach of UAE since June 2006 and won the Gulf Nations Cup in January 2007. Previously Metsu had been Senegal coach, leading them to the quarter-finals of the 2002 World Cup finals in South Korea and Japan.