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Khalid Abdulrahman Ibrahim Al-Koroni (Arabic: خالد عبد الرحمن ابراهيم القروني; born 31 December 1959) is a Saudi Arabian professional football coach and former player who played for Al-Riyadh.^[2]^[3] He is the current manager of Wej.

Playing career

Having made his debut during the 1977–78 season, Al-Koroni spent his whole playing career with hometown club Al-Riyadh. In his first season with the club, they managed to get promoted to the 1978–79 Saudi Premier League and reached the final of 1978 King Cup. During his playing career, Al-Koroni managed to get promoted to the Premier League four times with Al-Riyadh.^[4]

Managerial career

1990–1999

In 1991, Al-Koroni announced his retirement and was appointed as assistant manager of Al-Riyadh. In 1992, Al-Koroni was appointed as caretaker before returning to his previous post following the appointment of Zé Mário.^[4]

On 6 December 1997, Al-Koroni was appointed as Al-Riyadh's manager until the end of the season following the sacking of Jean-Michel Cavalli.^[5] At the time of his appointment, Al-Riyadh sat at tenth with only 8 points picked up from 10 games. Al-Riyadh's form started to improve and Al-Koroni managed to lead Al-Riyadh to ninth, 4 points off the relegation zone. Al-Koroni also managed to lead Al-Riyadh to their second Crown Prince Cup final, when they beat Al-Shoulla in the semi-finals.^[6] In the final, Al-Ahli defeated Al-Riyadh 3–2, courtesy of a golden goal.^[7] After ensuring the club's survival, Al-Koroni's contract was renewed for another year.^[8] On 11 February 1999, Al-Koroni announced his resignation as manager following conflicts with several players of the team.^[9]

1999–2000

On 24 February 1999, Al-Koroni was appointed as the manager of Al-Tai.^[10] At the time of his appointment, Al-Tai sat at ninth just four points above the relegation zone. Al-Koroni managed to finish eighth with Al-Tai and left following the expiration of his contract on 1 April 1999.

Al-Koroni was then appointed as assistant manager to Luisinho Lemos in the Saudi U23 national team.^[11] On 29 August 1999, Al-Koroni was appointed as head coach of the Saudi U23 national team following the sacking of Luisinho.^[12] Al-Koroni failed to qualify for the Olympics after finishing in second place, three points behind Kuwait in the qualifiers.

On 3 January 2000, Al-Koroni was appointed as the manager of Al-Shoulla until the end of the season.^[13]

On 6 February 2000, Al-Koroni left Al-Shoulla to manage the Saudi U17 national team.^[14] He was then made assistant following the appointment of Jean-Marie Conz.^[15]

2000–2005

On 10 November 2000, Al-Koroni was appointed as the head coach of Al-Hazem.^[16] On 27 March 2001, Al-Koroni resigned for personal reasons.^[17]

On 1 May 2001, Al-Koroni returned to manage Al-Shoulla for a second time.^[18] He managed to lead Al-Shoulla to a sixth-placed finish, their highest ever in the top flight. He left at the end of the season following the expiration of his contract.

On 21 May 2002, Al-Koroni returned to manage boyhood club Al-Riyadh for a third time.^[19] On 4 October 2002, Al-Koroni was sacked by Al-Riyadh.^[20]

On 8 October 2002, Al-Koroni was appointed as the manager of First Division club Al-Wehda.^[21] Al-Koroni managed to lead Al-Wehda to the First Division and gain promotion to the Premier League.^[22]

On 3 May 2003, Al-Koroni was loaned to Premier League side Al-Ittihad until the end of the season.^[23] Al-Koroni managed to win the Premier League title after defeating Al-Ahli 3–2 in the final. He became the first manager to win both the Premier League title and First Division title in one season.^[24] Al-Koroni also managed to win the 2003 Saudi-Egyptian Super Cup after defeating Ismaily 1–0 in the final.^[25]

Al-Koroni left Al-Ittihad following the expiration of his loan and returned to Al-Wehda.^[26]

On 2 August 2004, Al-Koroni was appointed as the manager of Al-Riyadh for the fourth time.^[27] On 4 February 2005, Al-Koroni was sacked by Al-Riyadh.^[28]

On 17 March 2005, Al-Koroni was appointed as the manager of First Division side Al-Hazem.^[29] Al-Koroni managed to lead Al-Hazem to their first First Division title as well as gain promotion to the top flight for the first time in the club's history.^[30]

2005–2014

On 14 September 2005, Al-Koroni was appointed as the manager of Al-Nassr's U20 team.^[31] Following the sacking of Mariano Barreto, Al-Koroni was appointed as Al-Nassr's manager on 23 November 2005.^[32] On 15 January 2006, Al-Koroni resigned from his post after a 3–0 defeat to Al-Ahli.^[33]

On 12 February 2006, Al-Koroni was appointed as Al-Raed's manager until the end of the season.^[34]

On 4 December 2006, Al-Koroni returned to manage Al-Tai for the second time.^[35] On 1 February 2007, Al-Koroni was sacked after failing to achieve a single win.^[36]

On 1 March 2007, Al-Koroni was appointed as the manager of Al-Qadsiah until the end of the season.^[37] At the time of his appointment, Al-Qadsiah sat at 11th in the relegation zone. He managed to finish 10th and avoid relegation.

On 18 February 2008, Al-Koroni replaced Jan Versleijen as the manager of Al-Wehda.^[38]

On 13 February 2009, Al-Koroni returned to manage Al-Riyadh for the fifth time.^[39] He left at the end of the season following the expiration of his contract. On 11 January 2010, Al-Koroni was appointed as Al-Riyadh's manager for the sixth time.^[40]

On 30 March 2010, Al-Koroni was appointed as the manager of the Saudi U20 national team.^[41] He resigned from his post as Al-Riyadh's manager on 12 April 2010.^[42] He managed to lead them to the Round of 16 of the 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup. He was then appointed as the manager of the Saudi U23 national team in 2012. He managed to win the 2012 GCC U-23 Championship and finish as runners-up in the 2013 AFC U-22 Championship.

2014–present

On 1 March 2014, Al-Koroni was appointed as Al-Ittihad's manager following the sacking of Juan Verzeri.^[43] On 28 August 2014, he was sacked after Al-Ittihad were eliminated by Al Ain in the Quarter-finals of the 2014 AFC Champions League.^[44]

On 22 September 2014, Al-Koroni returned to manage Al-Wehda for the third time.^[45] He was sacked on 28 October 2014 after losing three matches and drawing one in four matches.^[46]

On 31 October 2015, Al-Koroni was appointed as Al-Shoulla's manager until the end of the season.^[47]

On 28 April 2016, Al-Koroni was appointed as Al-Batin's manager.^[48] He managed the team during the promotion play-offs against Al-Raed, which they lost 5–3 on aggregate.

On 6 November 2016, Al-Koroni returned to Al-Batin following Adel Abdel Rahman's sacking.^[49]

On 8 March 2018, Al-Koroni was appointed as Al-Shabab's manager following the sacking of José Carreño.^[50]

On 27 January 2019, Al-Koroni returned to manage Al-Riyadh for the seventh time.^[51] He resigned from his post on 15 October 2019.

On 26 February 2020, Al-Koroni was appointed as Hetten's manager until the end of the season.^[52] He resigned on 27 July 2020 whilst the season was put on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[53]

On 13 April 2022, Al-Koroni was appointed as Al-Kholood's manager until the end of the season.^[54] On 17 May 2022, Al-Kholood renewed Al-Koroni's contract until the end of the 2022–23 season.^[55] On 5 October 2022, Al-Koroni was sacked following a 2–0 defeat to Al-Sahel.^[56]

On 4 December 2023, Al-Koroni was appointed as the manager of Second Division side Wej.^[57]

Managerial statistics

As of match played 5 October 2022

Managerial record by team and tenure
Team	Nat	From	To	Record
Team	Nat	From	To	G	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Win %
Al-Riyadh		6 December 1997	11 February 1999	41	15	11	15	80	70	+10	036.59
Al-Tai		24 February 1999	24 March 1999	5	2	1	2	4	6	−2	040.00
Al-Shoulla		3 January 2000	6 February 2000	5	3	0	2	5	4	+1	060.00
Al-Hazem		10 November 2000	27 March 2001	15	4	6	5	15	18	−3	026.67
Al-Shoulla		1 May 2001	8 May 2002	28	9	7	12	28	35	−7	032.14
Al-Riyadh		21 May 2002	4 October 2002	10	2	3	5	10	15	−5	020.00
Al-Wehda		8 October 2002	1 May 2003	25	14	7	4	50	22	+28	056.00
Al-Ittihad		3 May 2003	30 July 2003	4	2	0	2	6	6	+0	050.00
Al-Wehda		30 July 2003	30 June 2004	27	7	5	15	37	52	−15	025.93
Al-Riyadh		2 August 2004	4 February 2005	20	5	6	9	24	30	−6	025.00
Al-Hazem		17 March 2005	23 May 2005	11	7	3	1	24	7	+17	063.64
Al-Nassr		23 November 2005	15 January 2006	9	2	3	4	7	12	−5	022.22
Al-Raed		12 February 2006	1 May 2006	11	1	5	5	7	14	−7	009.09
Al-Tai		4 December 2006	1 February 2007	8	0	5	3	8	15	−7	000.00
Al-Qadsiah		1 March 2007	11 May 2007	7	1	3	3	6	9	−3	014.29
Al-Wehda		18 February 2008	5 May 2008	7	1	4	2	6	8	−2	014.29
Al-Riyadh		13 February 2009	22 May 2009	13	5	4	4	14	14	+0	038.46
Al-Riyadh		11 January 2010	12 April 2010	12	2	2	8	9	19	−10	016.67
Al-Ittihad		1 March 2014	28 August 2014	16	8	1	7	29	25	+4	050.00
Al-Wehda		22 September 2014	28 October 2014	4	0	1	3	2	5	−3	000.00
Al-Shoulla		31 October 2015	27 April 2016	24	11	7	6	30	22	+8	045.83
Al-Batin		27 April 2016	27 May 2016	2	1	0	1	3	5	−2	050.00
Al-Batin		6 November 2016	22 May 2017	21	5	7	9	26	34	−8	023.81
Al-Shabab		8 March 2018	1 May 2018	3	0	2	1	3	4	−1	000.00
Al-Riyadh		27 January 2019	15 October 2019	11	3	4	4	12	16	−4	027.27
Hetten		26 February 2020	27 July 2020	2	0	0	2	2	6	−4	000.00
Al-Kholood		13 April 2022	5 October 2022	12	4	4	4	11	10	+1	033.33
Wej		4 December 2023		0	0	0	0	0	0	+0	!—
Total				353	114	101	138	458	483	−25	032.29