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VIDEO: SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador - The Salvadoran football federation is looking for a replacement for manager Ruben Israel, apparently convinced it cannot get the Uruguayan to reconsider his resignation announced earlier in the week.
With Libertad of Paraguay confirming via Twitter on Thursday that it had hired the 56-year-old Israel, the federation said on its website that it did not have a timetable nor list of candidates.
"I wouldn't like to give names in order to avoid speculation but you have to be sure that we will speak with people in all areas, because we know that it's an important decision to be taken," federation President Carlos Méndez Florez said. "It involves the whole country and we hope to not make a mistake and continue on the correct path so that the national team can continue on its current path."
Méndez Florez told reporters Monday that Israel had resigned, but that he was attempting to contact the manager to ask him change his mind.
After winning all six matches in the second round of World Cup qualifying, El Salvador has drawn only one of two matches in the semifinal round and trails Mexico (six points) and Costa Rica (four points) in Group B. It is ahead of only Guyana (zero points). Only the top two will advance to the final round of qualifying.
El Salvador next faces Guyana on September 7 in El Salvador before travelling to Guyana four days later.
Israel, who managed Libertad in 2007-08, was hired by the Salvadoran federation in April 2011, and led
"Los Cuscatlecos" into the quarterfinals of the CONCACAF Gold Cup, where it lost on penalties to Panama.
His resignation comes following a reported dispute with the Instituto Nacional de Deportes de El Salvador - or INDES, which provides funding to the federation -- and its president, former player and coach Jaime Rodriguez.
