Former Costa Rican midfielder Alexandre Henrique Borges Guimaraes would be the head coach of ISL outfit, Mumbai City FC, for the third season of the Indian Super League.
He will be replacing marquee player cum coach, Frenchmen Nicolas Anelka, who led the team in the last two seasons. However, last season when Mumbai failed to qualify for the knock out round of the league for the second consultative time, he admitted that he won’t be returning to India.
As for Borges, he is known for his fine achievements as the head coach of the Costa Rica national squad, leading the country past the qualifying stages of the 2002 and the 2006 FIFA World Cups.
He also coached Costa Rican club Belen and then moved to another club Herediano in the summer of 1996, and achieved good results with both teams.
Mumbai City FC’s owner and actor Ranbir Kapoor also welcomed the signing.
We are extremely excited to have Alexandre on board with us. As a coach, and as a player, he has always shown great endearing and persistent traits, along with a winner’s mentality, that resound with our beliefs at Mumbai City FC. We are very confident that he is a right fit for the club, and for this city.Ranbir Kapoor
Borges also seemed very excited about his new India debut.
I have been coaching in Asia for a few years now and the Indian growth story is something that has caught my eye for quite a while. I was always keen to be a part of this massive football movement, and over my conversations with the club, I almost instantly knew that Mumbai City FC would be the perfect club for me to make my foray into Indian football. I am very excited about this new challenge and I hope that together with the entire Mumbai City FC team, we deliver a successful season to the people of Mumbai.Alexandre Henrique Borges Guimaraes
Borges was last on board with Saprissa, where he worked for several years, winning three national tournaments with them.
Apart from them, he has also coached several teams internationally, such as Comunicaciones of Guatemala, Irapuato and Dorados de Sinaloa in Mexico, and tasted success with teams like Al Wasl in UAE and Tiajin Teda in China.
(With inputs from PTI)
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