Silvani Rios will replace Hamed Kavianpour

Gulf News - Argentine striker Walter Silvani Rios signed up to play for Al Wasl till the conclusion of the 2002-2003 season.

Silvani commenced training with Al Wasl on Saturday under the UAE coaches Khalifa Mubarak and Hasan Mohammed. The duo are operating as caretaker coaches for the Al Wasl following the sacking of Dutch coach Johan Boskamp at the end of last month.

The Argentine striker will make his debut on Friday in the league match against Al Jazira in Abu Dhabi.

Silvani will replace Iranian midfielder Hamid Kavianpour who signed for Al Wasl last June.

Kavianpour, a member of the Iranian national team, failed to give his best in the league matches played so far. The club officials and supporters asked the board to replace him with a striker who can score goals.

Al Wasl are now in the 10th place in the league table with three points from six games, they are still looking for their first win in the league.

Rios is expected to play alongside Iranian striker Farhad Majiedi who is in his third straight season with the club. Walter Silvani, 31- years- old, said that Al Wasl's negotiations with him were serious from the beginning.

"I noticed that Al Wasl expressed a great desire to sign with me. Abdullah Lootah the club's board deputy chairman, contacted me to play for Al Wasl and I agreed to sign for the current season."

Silvani said that he was playing with Mexican club Pachuca for the last two years. "We won the domestic championship last season. I scored 19 goals in 18 matches."

The Argentine striker said that he began playing at home with famous club River Plate from 1989 to 1994. After that he played in Chile and Spain before joining Pachuca for the last two seasons.