Ricki Herbert joins Maldives team

Shanyang, CHINA – Newly appointed head coach of Maldives, Ricki Lloyd Herbert from New Zealand has joined with the team tonight in Shanyang, China.

Herbert travelled to China from his native country New Zealand to join the team and will travel to Maldives with the team after the match against China.

According to Football Association of Maldives, caretaker coach Ismail Mahfooz will lead the team tomorrow night against China in the FIFA World Cup Qualifier in Shenyang, China.

The appointment came after the resignation of Bulgarian born Velizar Popov just after six months.

FAM’s normalization committee chairman Mohamed Shaweed has said before that they will bring a high profile coach who has worked with a team in the FIFA World Cup.

Herbert is the only New Zealander and second manager to take New Zealand to the FIFA World Cup for a second time when his side qualified for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Herbert led the New Zealand national football team to the victory in the 2008 OFC Nations Cup, qualifying for the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup in South Africa.

On 15 June 2010, New Zealand drew 1–1 with Slovakia in their opening match in the World Cup Finals. In New Zealand's second game in the tournament, they held reigning world champions Italy to a memorable draw. Their third game of the 2010 FIFA World Cup was against Paraguay and the outcome was a nil-all draw.