Another Portuguese

Ahmed Morsy sees whether Ahli's newly appointed coach can follow in the footsteps of his illustrious predecessor

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Nelo Vingada

Six-time African champions Ahli announced on Friday the appointment of Portuguese Nelo Vingada as coach, succeeding his compatriot Manuel Jose.

Jose, who led Ahli to four African Champions League titles, left the club last month to become coach of Angola.

Jose enjoyed a glittering five- and-a-half year spell at the club which will be a hard act to follow. Vingada penned a two-year contract with Ahli which did not provide any financial details of the deal although some reports suggest he will get 40,000 euros monthly, half of what Jose used to earn.

Vingada, 56, previously coached Ahli arch-rivals Zamalek and led them to the Egyptian league title in 2004 without a single loss. He was responsible for deploying the non- traditional 4-4-2 system with Zamalek but failed to achieve any continental or regional success with them.

Vingada also coached Saudi Arabia in 1996 and 1997 and was in charge of Egypt's under-23 team as well as being Jordan's national team coach.

He also previously worked with four Portuguese clubs, including giants Benfica.

"What Jose did with Ahli is something unbelievable," Vingada told the Ahli TV satellite channel on Friday.

"I think nobody was able to produce such fantastic results before.

"I will be very happy if I can follow the way of success that Jose made in the past. What I can promise is that I will do my best along with my assistants to be successful."

Vingada also said he was encouraged by Jose to accept Ahli's offer.

"Jose was talking very well about the club. He advised me to come here.

"I'm really delighted to be back in Egypt," he added in a press conference on Saturday.

"I have had special ties with this country since I worked with Zamalek. My son-in-law is Egyptian and my grandson is half Egyptian- half Portuguese."

Despite admitting that taking over Ahli will put him under a lot of pressure, Vingada vowed to maintain the Cairo club's status as local and continental giants.

"Working with Ahli will be a massive challenge for me. I'm totally aware that I'm not here to help a suffering club, but I'm here to lead a team of champions.

"This club has been winning everything over the last few years, and I hope to be good enough to repeat similar future achievements," he added.

The former Saudi Arabia boss added that he needs to sit down with Ahli assistant coach Hossam El-Badri to know more about the club.

"El-Badri's help will be crucial in deciding which players I will choose and what tactics I will adopt.

"I also need to know more about the transfer market and the current footballing climate in Egypt."