Portuguese coach Ricardo Soares set to take over Al Ahly after Pitso Mosimane sacking
Portuguese head coach Ricardo Soares is set to take over Egyptian giants Al Ahly as a successor to South African manager Pitso Mosimane.
The Red Devils had announced that they parted ways with Pitso Mosimane after spending nearly two years in charge.
During his 21-month tenure, Mosimane had led the Red Devils to three CAF Champions League finals in a row, winning both the 2020 and 2021 editions of the competition.
He had also led the team to two consecutive FIFA Club World Cup bronze medals, two CAF Super Cup victories, in addition to an Egypt Cup and an Egyptian Super Cup coronations.
However, after the club’s recent poor run of results in the Egyptian Premier League, Mosimane has been under scrutiny with pundits and former players criticising the South African.
As a result, the club’s official social media accounts revealed that Mosimane made the decision to step down from his role.
Several names have been linked with the vacant head coach position, most notably the likes of Rui Vitória & Nuno Espírito Santo; however, the duo’s high financial demands urged Al Ahly to look somewhere else.
And according to several Portuguese reports, Gil Vicente manager Ricardo Soares is the name Al Ahly believe can guide the club in the future following a successful season.
Portuguese news outlet A Bola has revealed that Soares has agreed on terms with Al Ahly and will arrive in Cairo in just a few days to lead the team.
The 47-year-old has never coached outside of Portugal, starting his coaching career in 2005 at the age of 30 with amateur side Clube Caçadores das Taipas.
But his name started to be known only in 2015 with Vizela when he guided the club to the second division on his debut campaign.
Soares then was appointed at Primeira Liga club G.D. Chaves, before taking the helm of Desportivo Aves, Coimbra, SC Covilhã, Moreirense, and finally Gil Vicente in 2020.
In Barcelos is where Soares made his biggest achievement, guiding the team to the fifth place in the Primeira Liga, the club’s highest-ever league finish, which secured them a spot in the Europa Conference League.
In their quest to reach their first-ever European competition, Gil Vicente had lost just five times in the league in the first 27 rounds, and despite a poor run in the latter stages of the season, they still managed to finish ahead of the likes of Vitória de Guimarães.
Moreover, the team secured some shocking results, including a historic victory against Benfica at the Estádio da Luz and a 1-1 draw at the Estádio do Dragão despite playing almost all the game with just ten men.
If the news are true, Soares will become the fourth-ever Portuguese to take over Al Ahly after the likes of legendary manager Manuel José, Toni Oliveira, and José Peseiro.
Al Ahly are still competing in three different competitions this season, the 2021/22 Egyptian Premier League & Egypt Cup as well as the 2020/21 Egypt Cup, where they will face Pyramids FC on Sunday evening.
