The mystery surrounding Alexandre Gama’s next destination has been unveiled. Following his sudden resignation from current Thai League 1 leaders Buriram United, the Brazilian head coach has decided on his next port of call, K-League 1 side Daegu FC. This will be Gama’s third time working in South Korea, following a stint as an assistant coach at Gyeongnam FC from 2009 to 2010 as well as working as an assistant coach at the South Korea national team in 2011.
Gama’s departure from Buriram came as a surprise, especially considering that the Thunder Castles are currently leading the Thai League 1 table mid-way through the current campaign. With his well-known reputation in Southeast Asian football, a lot of people are trying to guess where the Brazilian would go next, with some guessing that he would go to Liga 1 Indonesia side PSM Makassar based on the fact that Gama had followed the Juku Eja‘s official Instagram since a while ago.
However, Gama’s next employer turned out to be K-League 1 upstarts Daegu, who had just relieved Lee Byung-geun from his duties at the end of the 2021 season. Byung-geun had overseen a successful 2021 season that saw Daegu finish third in the league, their highest finish in history, however, he had the ignominy of seeing Daegu lose out on the 2021 Korean FA Cup to second-tier side Jeonnam Dragons.
With his expertise in handling three of Thailand’s modern-day footballing powers – Buriram, Chiangrai United, and Muangthong United – the Daegu management is optimistic that Gama could lead their side to new levels in the 2022 season. The men in sky blue already have a Thai League veteran amongst their ranks in former Buriram striker Edgar, whom Gama had gone up against during his time with Chiangrai in the 2018 season.
It’ll be interesting to see how Gama will fare at Daegu, especially with the prospect of the Sky Blues facing off against Buriram in the 2022 AFC Champions League qualifying play-offs. With both Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors and Ulsan Hyundai looking more likely to play another round of hot potato for the 2022 K-League 1 title, Gama will have to do his best to ensure that his Daegu side would break the Hyundai duopoly.