Manuel Jose wins fourth African Champions League title

Portuguese coach’s success unstoppable in Egypt

Manuel Jose continued his incredible run of success at Egyptian club Al-Ahly by winning the African Champions League for a fourth time on Sunday.

Al-Ahly drew 2-2 away at Cameroonian team Coton Sport to complete a 4-2 aggregate win. The victory gives the Egyptian side a record six titles in the continent’s equivalent of the Uefa Champions League.

Jose’s side started the second leg with a comfortable 2-0 lead brought from Cairo, and the trophy appeared as good as won when they took the lead on the night late in the first half.

But Coton came back strongly with goals in the 45th and 62nd minutes. However, the experienced Al-Ahly stood firm and scored a penalty in the last minute to confirm the triumph.

Former Sporting and Benfica boss Jose has guided his team to the final of the African Champions League in the last four seasons, lifting the cup on three occasions. He also won it in 2001 and is the first coach to win the trophy four times. The 62-year-old has accumulated an incredible 17 titles during his time in the Egyptian capital.

“Fantastic achievement”

“It’s a fantastic achievement,” said Jose after the match. “Now Ahly is the only club ever to win six Champions Leagues.

“In Cairo we played a fantastic match, and could have scored four or five goals. We came here, scored a lucky goal through Ahmed Hassan, then conceded a stupid goal. When they scored the second goal my team trembled a little, but we have very experienced players.

“Congratulations to Coton Sport but I think we deserved to win.”