Marinica in Romania panel

Immediate-past Flames coach Mario Marinica says he is in search for new challenges after a successful stint with his native Romania national team as a consultant.

In an interview, Marinica said he was involved in Romania’s 2024 Euro qualification campaign in which they topped Group I without a loss after six wins and four draws.

He said: “I was engaged as a consultant to monitor opponents and analyse players’ performance.

“But now that the campaign is over, I may have a break and start looking for openings in January.”

Marinica was fired as Flames coach in April this year following a poor run in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers which cuminated in back-to-back 2-0 and 0-4 losses to the Pharaohs of Egypt in March.

He proceeded on leave pending the expiry of his contract and was replaced by Patrick Mabedi, who was one of his assistants.

Part of a statement released by FAM then read: “FAM wishes to announce that by mutual consent, it has been agreed with Mr Mario Marinica not to enter into  negotiations for renewal of his contract  as head coach of the Flames when it expires on April 30 2023.

Marinica was initially hired as FAM technical director in 2022, but was appointed Flames interim head coach, replacing the then head coach Meck Mwase, who was demoted to assistant coach.

He was in charge of the Flames at the 2021 Afcon finals that were played in January 2022 and guided the team to the knockout stages.

Marinica  was appointed coach on a permanent role in April 22 while Mwase was ‘redeployed’ as Under-23 national team coach, an offer he turned down before suing FAM for unlawful dismissal at the Industrial Relations Court.