Egypt Super Cup is a difficult mission: Ahly’s caretaker coach Zizo

Ahly’s caretaker coach Abdel-Aziz “Zizo” Abdel-Shafy says the temporary technical staff will be facing a difficult mission in the Super Cup match against rivals and Egyptian champions Zamalek.

On Monday night, Ahly appointed Zizo, one of the club icons, as a temporary coach after sacking Fathi Mabrouk following the team’s recent poor results.

“The Super Cup mission is difficult but not impossible,” Zizo said Tuesday during his unveiling press conference held at the club’s headquarters.

“We don’t have enough time to prepare for the match, and we are also missing some player who are currently in national duty,” he added.

The chief of Ahly’s youth sector, Zizo will be in charge of Ahly until the derby match against archrivals Zamalek in the Super Cup. The match will be played on 15 October in the United Arab Emirates.

“Ahly players have the sufficient experience to quickly overcome the current difficult situation,” Zizo said.

“Sometimes big football teams face hard times, but they recover rapidly. Ahly’s history says the team will return to glory soon,” the 62-year-old tactician added.

Former coach Mabrouk, who succeeded Juan Carlos Garrido last May after the Spanish boss was sacked, has come under fire following Ahly’s exit from the Confederation Cup semis.

The Reds slumped to a stunning 4-3 home defeat by South Africa’s Orlando Pirates on Sunday to wave goodbye to the competition they won last season with a 5-3 aggregate defeat.

Under Mabrouk, Ahly failed to win a major trophy for the first time since 2004. They lost both the Egyptian Premier League and the Egypt Cup to archrivals Zamalek this season.

Manuel Jose, the strongest candidate

Local reports said on Monday that veteran coaches Jose Vitor dos Santos Peseiro, Georges Leekens, Thomas Schaaf and Marcos Bakita are all in the running for the vacant Ahly job, but no deal is in place yet.

Veteran Portuguese coach Manuel Jose Da Silva, who previously guided Ahly to various trophies, also emerged as a prominent candidate.

“Leekens, Bakita and Schaaf are among the candidates, but Peseiro is out of the race,” explained Zizo.

“Frankly, Manuel Jose is the best and strongest candidate especially for his achievements and popularity among the fans,” the coach concluded.

Source: Reuters