Portuguese coach Ricardo Soares
“Ahly management announced the signing of Portuguese coach Ricardo Soares to be in charge of the team for two years including the remaining games of the ongoing season,” read a statement released on Ahly’s official website on Thursday.
“Soares arrived in Cairo on Wednesday to meet with the club’s chairman Mahmoud El-Khateb as well as finalizing the deal and put pen to papers,” the statement added.
The 47-year-old coach signed the deal after the shocking 3-2 defeat to Smouha in the Egyptian Premier League.
Soares will start his mission with the game against Petrojet in Egypt Cup semi-final on Saturday.
The Portuguese coach arrived in Egypt on Wednesday to finalise the deal with the Egyptian giants after his departure from leading Portuguese football team Gil Vicente.
Ahly are expected to introduce Soares in a press conference on Thursday.
Ahly had been intensively looking for a new manager since the departure of South African coach Pitso Mosimane earlier this month.
Caretaker coach Sami Komsan has been in charge since then, qualifying the team for the 2020/21 Egypt Cup semis and helping them to two league wins in four games.
The Portuguese coach started his managerial career in 2005 at the age of 30, with amateur side Clube Caçadores das Taipas.
Having signed with F.C. Vizela in summer 2014, he achieved promotion to the second level at the end of the 2015/16 campaign.
He was appointed at Primeira Liga club G.D. Chaves in December 2016 before moving to another top-flight club, C.D. Aves on a two-year deal in May 2017.
Soares was appointed at Gil Vicente F.C. in the 2020 season leading the team to fifth place and a European debut in the UEFA Europa Conference League.
He made his first move away from home during his coaching career after reportedly paying €250,000 to release himself from his Gil Vicente contract ahead of a two-year deal at Egypt's Ahly SC.
Ahly are third in the Egyptian Premier League table with 44 points after playing 20 games so far this season, with three games still in hand. The Red Devils are seven points behind rivals Zamalek who played three games more.
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