Haan resigns as Albanian national team coach

TIRANA, April 15—Arie Haan has resigned as Albanian national team coach after a series of losses in World Cup qualifiers, local media reported Wednesday. The 60-year-old Dutchman began the campaign for next summer’s South Africa finals by taking four points from the first two Group 1 matches. However, Albania failed to build on the promising start and lie second bottom of the section with just three matches remaining after the back-to-back losses.
“Mr. Haan submitted his resignation following the poor results of the Albanian football team in the 2010 World Cup qualifiers,” head of FSHF, Armando Duka, said. The FSHF, Albanian Football Federation, have yet to decide who will lead the team for the remainder of the campaign and the friendly against Georgia on 10 June.
Dutch footballing legend Haan replaced Croatia’s Otto Baric in December 2007 as Albania’s coach and signed a two years contract in January 2008
At club level, Haan enjoyed a successful career with Ajax, Anderlecht, Standard Liège and PSV Eindhoven. He joined Ajax in 1969 and played for them when they won the European Champions’ Cup for three consecutive years. As manager, he coached the Chinese national team for two years between 2002 and 2004 and was appointed Cameroon’s coach for a brief period in 2006.