New Barcelona coach Quique Setien has painted the picture of his brief stint as Equatorial Guinea as his worst job ever, saying the African country lacked "seriousness" in running their football affairs.
The Spaniard lasted just three months in charge of Equatorial Guinea, during which he presided over just one match, a 2008 Afcon qualifier 3-0 defeat by Cameroon in October 2006.
Setien says he was about to sign a "collaboration agreement" with Logrones, a lower-tier club he once played for, when he took up the Equatorial Guinea job.
"I had no job and they [Equatorial Guinea] presented me with a proposal, ideas that seemed very clear and in which they always talked to me about a long-term project. I even brought Esteban Torre as one of the people to work with me," Setien was quoted as saying by AS.
"We watched many games and many players, because I believed in that project. Or I wanted to believe, at least. But it was there, as time went by that I realised that these people had no intentions or seriousness or anything that warranted a contract to be signed."
Next Match
The new Barca boss took charge of the match against Cameroon without a signed contract and when he attempted to put pen to paper afterwards, the Equatoguinean Football Federation (Feguitfut) officials were hesitant.
"I met one day with the president of the Federation and a relative of his house, but nothing more. On one of the trips [to Equatorial Guinea] I stayed three days at the hotel without anyone showing up. That was definitive," said Setien.
After failing to land a contract, Setien left the African country and went to coach Logrones in 2007, before stints at Las Palmas and Real Betis.
He was appointed Barcelona boss earlier this week.
