Pitso Mosimane’s successor under pressure at Al Ahly, shuns media
Al Ahly coach Ricardo Soares, who replaced South African Pitso Mosimane in June, is feeling the pressure at the shaky Egyptian Premier League powerhouse.
Signs of immense pressure were evidenced by the latest incident, which happened on Wednesday evening when the Portuguese mentor shunned interviews at a post-match press conference in Egypt.
Soares refused to take questions from reporters and opted to read out a prepared speech after the 2-0 win over ENPPI.
He said he was in no mood to entertain questions from the gathered press members but fell short of stating the reasons.
“I apologise for not wanting to answer any questions at the moment. I respect your work, but I will not answer questions today,” he said.
“We played a game every three days, and almost every senior player is not here with us because of many injuries, and we have a number of young players to prepare for the future.
“The club officials made it clear before that there were refereeing errors that affected us and our progress this season.”
Soares took over the reins at Al Ahly after Mosimane decided to walk out on the job immediately after the 2-0 loss to Wydad Casablanca in the CAF Champions League.
Mosimane said he needed a break from the demands of coaching the Egyptian giants amid stinging criticism from some sections of Al Ahly legends such as Wael Goma.
The former Mamelodi Sundowns coach was largely a success after bagging two CAF Champions League titles in three attempts in addition to back-to-back FIFA Club World Cup bronze medals.
Al Ahly are merely playing games academically, as they cannot win the league title.
Cairo rivals Zamalek sealed the championship over the weekend when closer pursuers Pyramids lost 1-0 to Future FC.