The story of Manchester United coach Ruben Amorim’s season in the Gulf

In early November, Manchester United appointed Ruben Amorim as its new coach, swooping to bring in the former international team-mate of Cristiano Ronaldo from Sporting Lisbon. Amorim had only previously coached in Portugal and played in the country for almost his entire career too.

Amorim did, however, have one notable football experience outside of his homeland: Here in the Gulf. In 2015-16, the midfielder played a season on loan in the Qatar Stars League, captaining Al Wakrah in what ended up being the final chapter of his playing career.

Since hanging up his boots, Amorim’s rise as a coach has been meteoric. At just 39 years old he is the same age as Ronaldo; now he is manager of United, the club at which the Portuguese superstar made his name.

While a few eyebrows were raised by Amorim’s appointment at Old Trafford, his former boss at Al Wakrah was wholly unsurprised. Uruguayan Mauricio Larriera knows Amorim better than many, having worked in close quarters with him in Qatar, and always felt he was destined for the top.

“From the beginning he showed his profile as a coach,” Larriera recalls to Al Arabiya English. “Sometimes we met at the training center, other times at the hotel where we lived and we exchanged tactical aspects. He was always respectful, pleasant and a real gentleman.

“I remember him as a very lovable, humble person who collaborated a lot with me. Always with a coach’s profile. He would get angry and frustrated with certain shortcomings he saw in the team.”

Larriera signed Amorim principally for his leadership qualities. The Portuguese midfielder was an all-action, box-to-box player who would often inspire those around him.

“I remember a match against Al Sadd where [ex-Barcelona captain] Xavi Hernandez was playing and we ended up winning 3-1,” Larriera says. “Ruben played a great game and was the one who not only neutralized Xavi, but was also in charge of generating play from the midfield.

“I confess that we often planned the training sessions so that Ruben would feel like an elite professional – like he would have been used to at Benfica. We carried out highly complex tasks and, under the influence of Ruben and four or five other players, the objectives were always met.”

Arriving at Al Wakrah in August of 2015 on a season-long loan from Benfica, Amorim came to Qatar to build up his form and fitness – having endured a lengthy period on the sidelines after suffering a serious ACL injury a year earlier. Even after making it to Qatar, it was another four months before he made his debut for Al Wakrah.

Despite this significant absence, Larriera was so convinced of Amorim’s abilities that he traded one of Al Wakrah’s other foreign players to make space for him in the squad.

“We didn’t have the foreign quota available but as soon as he started training with us, I could tell that he was extremely professional and would have a positive impact. We were in a club that lacked players of that level and with Amorim’s standard of career.

“I began to talk with Ruben very closely, privately. I got to know his ideas, his way of being, his projects and his family. At that time, he and his wife were expecting a baby.

“He convinced me that he would be very useful for us on and off the field – and he was.”

Amorim’s debut for Al Wakrah was a home win against Al Arabi and then in his second game he scored his first and only goal for the club in a 2-1 loss to Al Ahli. Although Al Wakrah was defeated, Larriera recalls that Amorim was “the best player in the game.”

“Working with Ruben was a pleasure,” Larriera continues, “He did everything necessary to get to each game in the best shape. We had a close and very trusting, reciprocal relationship. He became the leader of the team along with an Argentine player, Sebastian Saez, with whom he became friends.

“He was my coach on the field. He tried to help everyone, especially the younger players. This was important as in Qatar at that time, ‘professional’ football was still really in its infancy.”

Larriera, who has since coached some of South America’s biggest teams including Peñarol in Uruguay and Lionel Messi’s boyhood club Newell’s Old Boys in Argentina, has watched Amorim’s coaching career develop from afar. He is delighted to see his former protege at Al Wakrah take one of the most high-profile jobs in world football at Manchester United.

“I always saw a future in him as a coach,” Larriera smiles. “He seemed restless in all the aspects that make up this function. Today I am very happy with the path he is traveling.

“I imagine that he will be very well prepared for Manchester United and methodical in taking each step. He is young and has a very promising future.

“The conclusion I draw from our time together is that I surely learned much more from Ruben than Ruben learned from me.”