Alexandre Guimaraes to continue as Mumbai FC head coach in ISL

Mumbai, July 14: Former Costa Rica midfielder Alexandre Guimaraes was on Friday re-appointed head coach of Mumbai City FC for the upcoming fourth edition of the Indian Super League (ISL), scheduled to start in November this year.

Guimaraes led Mumbai City FC to top the group standings at the end of the league stage in ISL last year.

He helped the club reach their maiden semi-final where they succumbed to eventual league winners, Atletico de Kolkata in a closely fought semi-final in December last year.

The 57-year-old represented his country in 1990 FIFA World Cup. He is best known for his great achievements as the head coach of the Costa Rica national team, leading them past the qualifying stages for the 2002 and the 2006 FIFA World Cups.

Guimaraes started coaching Belén, then moved to Herediano in summer 1996, where he achieved good results with both the teams.

He was hired by Saprissa, where he worked for several years, winning three national tournaments with them.

Guimaraes has also coached several international teams, such as Comunicaciones of Guatemala, Irapuato and Dorados de Sinaloa in Mexico and tasted success with teams like Al Wasl in UAE & Tiajin Teda in China, the release said.

"I'm very happy to continue as the coach of Mumbai City FC. The support of the owners and management has been fabulous and the reception and love the players and my staff got from the supporters club was tremendous," Guimaraes said reacting to the announcement.

"We achieved some of the objectives last year by finishing top of the table and reaching the semi-finals but I'd like to continue this project and finish the job I came here for," he added.