Issue No. 594
Sports
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11 - 17 July 2002 Issue No. 594 Sports |
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 | Recommend this page | ||
Bringing gold from Atlanta
Dutchman Johann Bonfrere, who led Nigeria's Super Eagles to an Olympic gold, is the new head coach of Ahli football. Inas Mazhar reports on club hopes that his Midas touch will rub off
Following a week of negotiations, Ahli signed Johann Bonfrere to a one-year contract worth $18,000 a month.
The Dutchman replaces Portuguese Manuel Jose who was making $4,000 more. Despite winning the African Champions League and the Super Cup during his one-year stint, Jose was still shown the door.
Ahli's first choice after Jose was not Bonfrere but a fellow Dutchman, Arie Haan. Negotiations with Haan, a member of the Dutch team which lost in the final of the 1978 World Cup, broke down after his demand for a $30,000 monthly salary was turned down. Ahli was willing to part with only $17,000.
At a press conference, club president Hassan Hamdi introduced Bonfrere as the coach who led Nigeria to the gold medal at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta and a silver medal at the 2000 African Nations Cup (ANC). But critics claim that Bonfrere comes with an inflated reputation, saying the gold medal was largely the work of German Clemens Westerhoff. A row with team officials forced Westerhoff to quit shortly before the Games began, leaving his assistant, Bonfrere, in charge of a ready-made team.
The 56-year-old Bonfrere began his coaching career in 1984 as head of Dutch club M F Mastricht. In six years with the team he achieved nothing of note. In 1990, he was asked by Westerhoff to assist in training Nigeria's national team. Together that year, they helped Nigeria take the silver medal at the ANC, the bronze at the 1992 ANC and the gold in the 1994 tournament. That same year, Nigeria also qualified for the World Cup for its first time.
But after the team was eliminated in the second round, Westerhoff had a falling out. He left but Bonfrere stayed. However, after the 1996 Atlantic gold Bonfrere, too, resigned after his request for a salary hike was brushed aside.
In the Gulf, Bonfrere trained Qatar in 1997 but failed to produce any meaningful results. He then left for Al-Wehda in the Emirates, managing to win the 1998-1999 league championship. He returned to Nigeria to lead the team to the final of the 2000 ANC championship won by Cameroon.
The loss prompted calls for Bonfrere's sacking but the Nigerian federation insisted on keeping him for the 2002 World Cup qualifications. A loss to Sierra Leone, though, sealed Bonfrere's Nigerian fate a second time. The team had amassed only seven points in five matches and was third in the group. Although Nigeria eventually made it to the finals, Bonfrere was not around to celebrate with the side.
Bonfrere's last stop before joining Ahli was Al-Wehda again to which he returned last year. He was sacked again in April after a poor performance in the Asian Championships and a worse effort in the Gulf championship in which the club finished last.
Bonfrere's task at hand will be defending Ahli's title in the African Champions League in which the club has reached the second round. Matches resume next month. He is also expected to vie for the domestic league trophy, beginning in September, which Ahli missed out on by two points last season.
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