Le Guen in talks to become national football coach

Paul Le Guen has emerged as a strong contender for the vacant position of Oman's national football team coach after Oman Football Association (OFA) officials held a meeting with the Frenchman in Muscat on Saturday evening.

Confirming talks with the former Cameroon coach, an OFA official told Muscat Daily, “Le Guen is one of the contenders for the position of national coach. He came to Oman to meet the OFA officials and the meeting took place on Saturday. I believe OFA will soon announce the name of the new coach.”

If selected, the 47 year old will become the second successive French coach to take the job. Claude Le Roy held the post from 2008 to 2010 but was fired in January after Oman's disappointing performance at the 2010 Gulf Cup.

Le Guen is a former French international defender who won 17 caps with the national team. After a playing career spent in France, including 248 appearances with Paris Saint-Germain, he moved into management in 1998 with Stade Rennais.

His most successful spell as a coach came with Lyon, where he won the French League title for three successive seasons from 2002 to 2005. He also led the team to the quarterfinals of the Champions League.

Following success at Lyon, Le Guen took over Scottish giant Rangers, but was fired after only six months with the team struggling in the league. He returned to France in 2007 to coach his former club Paris Saint-Germain. Despite winning the French Cup in 2008, he was not offered a new contract with PSG.

In July 2009, the Frenchman was appointed coach of Cameroon and led the African side to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Cameroon was eliminated in the group stages and Le Guen resigned shortly after the tournament.