fore moving on to South Africa. He was fired as Bafana

fore moving on to South Africa. He was fired as Bafana Bafana
coach, less than three months before the 2002 World Cup, but
quickly resurfaced as an assistant coach at Manchester United.
In many ways, Queiroz is perfect for Real Madrid.
In fitting with the club's global image, Queiroz speaks five
languages.
He discovered Luis Figo, part of the "golden generation" of
young players whom Queiroz led to back-to-back World Youth
Championship titles in 1989 and 1991, and he worked with
David Beckham at Manchester United. Queiroz's first task will
be to figure out how to best use Figo and Beckham, both rightside attacking midfielders.
Queiroz doesn't think he'll have a problem.
"I always think the best soccer is played by the best players
and I will be trying to make sure they work in harmony," Queiroz
says. "The only time I want to leave Beckham or Luis Figo on
the bench is when they are injured."
SERGIO PEREZ/REUTERS
CARLOS QUEIROZ
Former MLS coach moves into Real hot seat
A footnote in the history of American soccer, Carlos Queiroz has
resurfaced as Real Madrid's new head coach.
Few realize how close Queiroz, and not Bruce Arena, was to becoming the U.S. national team coach in 1998.
As U.S. national team coach-in-waiting, Queiroz was handsomely
paid for his technical report, the wildly ambitious plan to revamp
American soccer.
By the time U.S. Soccer came around to replace Steve Sampson,
Queiroz, who had coached MLS's MetroStars in 1996, had grown impatient and headed off to the United Arab Emirates.
Queiroz has bounced around. He lasted only a year in the UAE be-
14 / Soccer America / July 14 & 28, 2003
Queiroz might move Beckham into a more central role in
midfield or he could move Figo to the
Real Madrid president left side and Zinedine Zidane into a more
central role behind the Real strikers.
Florentino Perez has
Defensive problems were responsible
his orders for Coach
for Real's elimination from the ChamCarlos Queiroz: "He
pions League in the semifinals and its
must not only win but
struggle to hold off Real Sociedad in La
also give us a
spectacular show."
Liga race. Queiroz's first task: replacing
longtime captain Fernando Hierro in
the middle of the defense.
Queiroz's more difficult task will be to win the confidence of
the players and restore order.
Real players, already upset about the distraction of the Beckham
transfer before the decisive finale against Athletic Bilbao, refused
to take a second lap of honor after beating Bilbao and clinching
the league title. The move was to protest the impending ouster of
Vicente Del Bosque, called "the perfect coach for Real" by Zidane.
"I won't pretend I liked what happened after the game on
Sunday," said Real president Florentino Perez, who fired Del
Bosque the next day. "The club demands high standards from
everyone, including the players."
Real Madrid's demands of its coach are even higher.
"He must not only win," says Perez, "but also give us a spectacular show."
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