SAN SALVADOR : El Salvador have named Hernan Dario Gomez as manager, the country’s FA (FESFUT) said on Tuesday, hoping the Colombian can lead them to a third World Cup next year in the United States, Mexico and Canada.
The 69-year-old coach replaces Spaniard David Doniga, who was sacked on Monday after just over a year in the job.
“I am very grateful and happy, hoping that we get the chance, I am fighting to go to (my) sixth World Cup. We are going to work hard and we are going to dream about it,” Gomez said on his presentation.
“It is not easy, but there has never been an easy thing, so we are going to work for that … I like a challenge and sometimes dreams come true.”
Nicknamed “Bolillo”, Gomez led Panama to their first World Cup in 2018, having also coached Colombia and Ecuador at the 1998 and 2002 World Cup tournaments respectively.
He was also Guatemala manager from 2006 to 2008, while his last national team post was with Honduras from 2021 to 2022.
El Salvador, who have not qualified for the World Cup since 1982, face Anguilla in June in the CONCACAF World Cup qualifiers, where they currently sit third in Group F with four points from two matches in the second round stage.
With two rounds of matches to go, the Central Americans are two points behind group leaders Suriname and level on points with second-placed Puerto Rico.
They need to finish in the top two to progress to the next phase, where three automatic World Cup berths are awarded.
(Report by Nelson Renteria and Janina Nuno Rios; Editing by Carlos Calvo Pacheco and Ken Ferris)
