Former Costa Rican Borges to coach Mumbai City FC

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 franchise-based football league.

Borges 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, a Mumbai City FC media release said today.

He started coaching Costa Rican club Belen, then moved to another club Herediano in the summer of 1996, and had achieved good results with both teams, the release added.

Welcoming the signing, Mumbai City FC’s owner and actor Ranbir Kapoor said, “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.

“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,” said Borges about his new assignment.

“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,” he added.

Borges was on board with Saprissa, where he worked for several years, winning three national tournaments with 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.

His elder son, Celso Borges, is a player of the Costa Rican national team and Spanish club Deportivo de La Coruna in La Liga.

Mumbai City FC had failed to qualify for the play-offs in the first two seasons of the eight-team ISL.