Paulo Bento: Asian experience, numbers and the path of discipline...

It is becoming increasingly clear that Paulo Bento will become the head coach of the Uzbekistan national team. Many people evaluate this specialist based on his results in the United Arab Emirates and Portugal, which is why some fans are developing distrust towards him.

Portuguese coach Paulo Bento has arrived in Tashkent. He is expected to sign a contract with the Uzbekistan national team. Bentu has spent the last seven years of his career in Asia: in 2018-2022 he headed the South Korean national team, and in 2023-2025 - the UAE national team.

The Portuguese specialist was appointed head coach of the South Korean national team on August 17, 2018. The first major challenge was the 2019 Asian Cup: at the tournament in the UAE, the Koreans took 1st place in the group, defeated Bahrain in extra time in the quarterfinals, and lost 0:1 to Qatar in the quarterfinals.

In the 2022 World Cup qualifiers, the team finished the final stage in 2nd place with 23 points, behind Iran (25 points). At the Qatar World Cup, they finished second in the group stage (leaving Uruguay behind) and lost to Brazil 1-4 in the quarter-finals. After this, Bentu resigned - he said that he had already made this decision for himself in September 2022 and wanted to take a break, that is, he worked until the end of the contract.

Paulo Bentu became the head coach of the UAE national team on July 9, 2023. He failed to reach the expected milestones in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, and on March 26, 2025, the association dismissed him along with his staff.

Paulo Bento is a supporter of a relatively offensive approach: he demands active pressing, positional discipline, and a higher tempo. In South Korea, this method proved effective due to the high quality of the composition. However, he failed in matches against stronger opponents (Iran and Uzbekistan) against the UAE.

Portugal (2010-2014): 47 games, 26 wins, 12 draws, 9 losses, PPM 1.89.

South Korea (2018-2022): 57 matches, 35 wins, 13 draws, 9 losses, PPM 2.07.

UAE (2023-25): 26 games, 14 wins, 6 draws, 3 losses, PPM 1.81.

There's no point in objections now - it's almost certain that Bento will become our national team's head coach, and the opportunity to give him a full assessment is still ahead. If we call him a "bad coach" against the backdrop of results in the UAE, a successful World Cup match against South Korea can also give him high praise: he managed to get out of a group with teams like Portugal, Uruguay, and Ghana.

Additionally, the UAE, led by Bentu, suffered losses against Uzbekistan and Iran, but this team suffered a resounding 5-0 defeat against Qatar. This means his teams are usually quite attacking, while defense isn't always perfect. Many criticized Katanec for being "the opposite"; Bentu is close to the type fans want and, most importantly, not a petty name.

Since the decision has been made, we cannot influence it - we will only draw conclusions after the World Cup. For now, the most correct thing is: time to trust the new coach, discipline, and adherence to the plan. There are numbers and experience - now it remains to turn them into a result on the grass.