COLOMBIA have sacked national team boss Carlos Queiroz after a poor start to World Cup qualification.
A ticket to Qatar was in huge doubt after Ecuador inflicted a heavy 6-1 defeat on their South American rivals last month.
Carlos Queiroz has been sacked with Colombia still reliant upon James Rodriguez[/caption]
That followed a 3-0 defeat to Uruguay, leaving Colombia seventh in the ten-team CONMEBOL table.
On Tuesday night, the Colombian FA confirmed the departure of the former Manchester United assistant and Real Madrid boss.
Queiroz was hired in February 2019 after a successful spell in charge of Iran, who he led to consecutive World Cups.
Having comfortably won their group in that summer’s Copa America, Los Cafeteros were dumped out in the quarter-finals after a penalty shootout defeat to Uruguay.
The side struggled to gather form following the heartbreak, which came only a year after a penalty shoot-out defeat to England in the World Cup.
A 3-0 friendly defeat to Algeria came ahead of an initially promising start to 2022 qualification, with a convincing win over Venezuela.
But the wheels came off last month as Uruguay and Ecuador punished Colombia’s reliance on James Rodriguez.
The Everton star was forced to deny press reports of a dressing room bust-up after the 6-1 hammering.
Earlier this week, Queiroz had told Iranian newspaper Farhikhtegan Daily that his time with the team was ‘coming to an end’.
And the Colombian FA have until March to find a replacement for the 67-year-old with Brazil and Paraguay next up in World Cup qualifying.
A statement on the coach’s exit read: “The FCF was proud to have [Queiroz] for almost two years, in which he gave us his entire working capacity, knowledge and experience.
“The contribution that you gave us will serve to continue the development of the projects that are being carried out with all the national teams of our country.
“We wish Carlos Queiroz and his team the best in their future career plans.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
