Guga: “First, the semifinals. Then, who knows?”

The UAE National coach is ready for the Samsung Beach Soccer Intercontinental Cup Dubai 2015, and looks forward to a notable performance of his team

Hosting such an event and competing with the best teams in the world is not a new experience for the Emirati but this year has even more hype after a great 2015 beach soccer season. We sat down with the UAE head coach Gustavo “Guga” Zloccowick to discuss the upcoming tournament.

BSWW: How prepared is your team for this years’ Samsung Beach Soccer Intercontinental Cup?

Guga: This year I have tried, with much support from the UAE FA to make beach soccer a bigger priority in all areas, and as a part of this process we started our preparation by watching more film of our toughest foes and sending tapes to the players as well as analyzing our teams’ mistakes and showing them to the players. We also dedicated large amounts of time to watch tape on our upcoming opponents. 

BSWW: Those are all very forward thinking techniques and common among the best teams. Now, this is your 4th Samsung Beach Soccer Intercontinental Cup, second with the UAE, and how does this one compare to the others?

Guga:  As I always say this kind of competition has the best teams in the world (out of 7 other teams, 5 are in the top-8 in the Overall World Ranking Presented by Power Horse) and this shows how important the Intercontinental Cup has become in the Beach Soccer calendar. The Samsung Beach Soccer Intercontinental Cup is undoubtedly one of the greatest competitions at the highest level, from a technical standpoint as well as the structure and organization involved. To be one of the coaches with the most appearances  in this competition, for me it is a source of great pride and happiness.

BSWW: Yes congratulations on your 4^th appearance, only Russia’s Likhachev has more appearances, being in all five editions. What are your expectations and what do you expect from your team this year?

Guga: For me as a coach I am optimistic, whenever I enter the competition in whatever it is, I have the best possible expectations in mind, and this year will not be any different with UAE National Team. We are working very hard and the players understand our tactical system more and more each day. However, our first target is to qualify for the semis  and them who knows? We can reach our first final of this great event.

BSWW: Very true, and there have been three different champions in the previous four editions. Lastly, what is your favourite thing about Dubai?

My favourite thing about Dubai is the quality of life. Everything is so advanced and modern here and those qualities are what make our relatively new sport, so perfect for Dubai as it is the future, and a bright one at that, plus it is a modern sport.

The festivities begin on November 3^rd and finish on the 7^th of November with the II Beach Soccer Stars end of the year award ceremony, to take place on the evening after the sure-to-be-exciting final earlier in the day. You can watch the UAE battle with Mexico, Portugal, Russia, Tahiti, Egypt, Argentina, and Iran through www.beachsoccer.com. All the matches to go along with the Stars event will be broadcast on the website, app, and livestream.com.