Prandelli promises to make it a 'very special season' for Al Nasr

Work, work and more work will be Cesare Prandelli's mantra for the Al Nasr football team as the former Italy coach takes over the reins at the Al Maktoum Stadium for the coming season.

The 59-year-old was introduced to the media at the Shangri-La Hotel in Dubai on Monday night. He replaces Dan Petrescu as manager of The Blues after the Romanian's seven-month tenure ended last Friday with a humiliating 3-0 defeat at the hands of Al Wahda in the President's Cup final.

Prandelli became the second Italian after former Azzurri goalkeeper Walter Zena to coach The Blue Wave. For a club that won its league titles way back in the 1985-86 season, Prandelli could be the right man for the job. He guided the Azzurri to the runners-up place in the 2012 European Championship and was instrumental in Italy qualifying for the 2014 World Cup before they lost in the group stages.

Having signed a two-year contract with Nasr, Prandelli is keen to improve their position in the Arabian Gulf League standings after they finished a disappointing sixth this season. In fact nothing less than the title will do for the Italian.

"All my technical staff are now ready to work at a high level with Al Nasr to ensure we end the year with the trophy. But for that we will need everyone to work together," he said while addressing the media.

Prandelli thanked Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and UAE Minister of Finance, who is also the president of the club and Humaid Al Tayer, the Al Nasr chairman and board members for bringing him to Dubai where he feels at home.

The Italian has promised the chairman that he will put his heart and soul in the job and make it a 'very special season' for Nasr. "I need to work very hard to see how I can make this season a 'very special season for Nasr'.

"One of the reasons I came to Nasr is for a new experience and to work with a chairman like Humaid Al Tayer because he's looking at everything at the club.

"I was very happy to know that the chairman was following my history, he knows everything about my footballing career, therefore from Day 1 I already feel like I am at home.

"He has requested me to pass on all my experience to the players and that's what I promise to deliver."

Prandelli said he was surprised on visiting the Maktoum Stadium. "Yesterday (Sunday) I visited the Stadium and before I could even put my request in for facilities I was surprised that everything was there. The club has the potential to achieve great things in the future."

Source: Khaleej Times