JOHANNESBURG: Celebrated Al-Ahly coach Manuel Jose resumes his hunt for a final African Champions League title this weekend when the Egyptian giants visit Nigeria hoping to topple Kano Pillars.
The graying 63-year-old Portuguese disciplinarian admitted in an Egyptian television interview that next season will be his last in charge of a club that has won the premier African club title a record six times.
With the Egyptian season ending in mid-year, Jose will not have another full African campaign with Ahly as the Champions League schedule kicks off in February and continues until November.
Ahly have won four of the six titles under Jose, starting with a 4-1 aggregate success over Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa in the 2001 final, and his other triumphs came in 2005, 2006 and last year.
He sits on the sideline, arms folded, chewing gum with the same tenacity as Sir Alex Ferguson, and plotting success after success for the Cairo Red Devils , who are seeking a fifth consecutive Egyptian title this year.
Ahly boast a host of stars, including defenders Wael Gomaa and captain Shady Mohamed, midfielders Mohamed Abou-Trika, Mohamed Barakat and Felisberto “Gilberto Amaral and striker Flavio Amado.
Jose never tires of stressing how important experience is in African combat, and this is an area where Ahly will have a huge advantage over first-time Champions League participants Pillars in the northern city of Kaduna.
While Kano have been involved in just 360 minutes of continental fare, there is no shortage of confidence that they can scuttle the aspirations of a club reportedly supported by 40 million in the Arab world.
Our players see this game as their World Cup final. Everybody involved with the team knows that nothing must be left undone to ensure victory on Saturday, official Ibrahim Galadima told the Nigerian media.
We must focus on the game and forget tradition and records. Ahly should be afraid of us because they have so much to lose while we have nothing to lose, he added.
Fellow official Shehu Adamu drew optimism from the shock-littered qualifiers with ex-champions Asante Kotoko of Ghana, Canon Yaounde of Cameroon, CARA of Congo, Club Africain of Tunisia, JS Kabylie of Algeria and FAR Rabat of Morocco eliminated.
The African record of Ahly should intimidate us, but we are aware that unfancied teams have produced upsets and are confident of shocking the Egyptians, he said.
Form suggests otherwise as Ahly won home and away against Young Africans of Tanzania in the second round while Pillars needed the away-goal rule to edge modest AS Douanes of Senegal after two draws.
Cotonsport Garoua, who last year became the first finalists from Cameroon since 1980, are also in Nigeria to face 1988 runners-up Heartland (formerly Iwuanyanwu Nationale) in the south-east town of Owerri.
Tout Puissant Mazembe of Democratic Republic of Congo, ASEC Mimosas of Ivory Coast and Etoile Sahel of Tunisia are other former winners in contention for the one-million-dollar first prize and a FIFA Club World Cup place.
