Mixed fortunes for coaches in continental action

There were mixed fortunes for coaches in the weekend’s continental club championship, which saw some clubs moved to the brink of qualification for the last four.

Whilst the Day Four matches of the Orange CAF Champions League and Orange CAF Confederation Cup ushered some coaches to their new roles, it was the opposite for others as the unconvincing results cost them their jobs.

For the premier continental club championship, Frenchman Philippe Troussier signed off his new role in charge of CS Sfaxien on a winning note, guiding the Sfax-based side to a lone goal victory over Esperance in the Tunisian derby on Saturday at the Taieb Mhiri Stadium.

Troussier, nicknamed ‘White Witch Doctor’ and a household name in African football in the 1990’s after stints with clubs such as ASEC Mimosas, Kaizer Chiefs and FUS Rabat, and also in charge of national sides including Cote d’Ivoire, Nigeria, Burkina and South Africa was making a return to the continent since 2005, where he enjoyed a brief spell with the Morocco national team.

After the victory, which puts Sfaxien in a good stead to qualify, the Frenchman said “we deserved the three points. We played a great game. Nevertheless, we must not believe that we have already qualified.”

Twenty-four hours later, Brazilian coach of Sudanese side, Al Hilal, Paulo Campos, was relieved of his position moments after his side suffered a 2-1 loss to AS Vita in Kinshasa, after a stunning turnaround by the DR Congo outfit in the dying stages.

A Club statement said the Brazilian, appointed last May prior to the commencement of the group stage has been fired and his assistant, Al-Tag Mahgoub has been named replacement.

Elsewhere in Alexandria, ex-Pharaohs forward, Ahmed Hossam ‘Mido’ was shown the exit by his boyhood club, Zamalek, after a barren draw with TP Mazembe, almost ruined their chances of progressing beyond the group phase in the CAF Champions League.

The 31-year old, who guided the ‘White Knights’ to the Egyptian Cup few weeks ago, becoming the youngest coach in the history of Egyptian football to win a title, will be replaced by another Egyptian legend, Hossam Hossam, who has agreed terms with the Cairo-based club.

Earlier on Friday, Slovakia-born coach of Ahly Benghazi of Libya, Jozef Vukusic began his new job on a losing note, suffering a 2-0 loss to ES Setif of Algeria in their Group B fixture. The Slovak replaced Egyptian Tarek El Ashry two weeks ago.

In the Orange CAF Confederation Cup, it was winning starts for Benton Chambeshi and Carlos Garrido of Zambia’s Nkana and Al-Ahly of Egypt respectively. Chambeshi supervised the Zambians to their first win of the group phase, beating Etoile du Sahel 4-3 in Kitwe. It was also the first game for Serbian Dragan Cvetković, who succeeded Frenchman Roger Lemerre barely a month at the helm of the Sousse-based club.

On the otherhand, Spaniard Garrido guided Ahly to a lone goal win over Sewe Sport of Cote d’Ivoire and moved within touching distance of a place at the last four.

Confederation of African Football (CAF) News