An Egyptian Premier League defeat against Smouha on Wednesday has only increased the urgency for Cairo titans Al Ahly when it comes to needing positive results in the title chase. Incoming manager Ricardo Soares has been brought in to alleviate Ahly’s recent struggles and the Portuguese promised to lead the club to more pleasing results during his introductory press conference on Friday.
The 47-year-old has a promising record having led previous club Gil Vicente to a 5th place finish in the Portuguese Primeira Liga this past season but expectations will be incredibly high with Ahly trailing title rivals Zamalek and Pyramids FC. Soares reportedly paid €250,000 of his own money to release himself from Gil Vicente for the opportunity to manage Al Ahly. The manager addressed the fixture congestion issues in Egyptian football at the moment, stating that playing games every three days will add to the difficulty of getting the team to adapt to his preferred playing style.
Soares succeeds South African coach Pitso Mosimane who led Ahly to back-to-back CAF Champions League trophies in 2020 and 2021. The new manager acknowledged the expectations and announced the intention of his coaching staff to “to improve the team’s playing style as there are more talented players in the squad”. Soares will take charge for Ahly’s 2020-21 Egypt Cup semifinal against Petrojet on Saturday as the Red Devils attempt to join rivals Zamalek in the final.
