Al Ahly announce former Pirates boss José Riveiro as new coach

Egyptian giants Al Ahly have announced the appointment of former Orlando Pirates schemer José Riveiro as their new head coach.

Al Ahly posted the development, speculated on since the 47-year-old Spaniard was granted permission to leave his contract at Pirates a few weeks early on May 12 to “join a new club”, on their social media.

Ahly posted a picture of Riveiro on X on Wednesday night and said: “A new chapter begins.”

The record 12-time Caf Champions League winners and 45-time Egyptian league title-holders had not said anything further at the time of publishing.

Riveiro coached Pirates for three years after his arrival there in July 2022. 

He had previously only been a head coach at FC Inter Turku in the Finnish top flight, who he transformed from mid-table performers into top three competitors, though he never won a trophy there.

Riveiro truly made his name at the Buccaneers, where he won five of the eight domestic cup trophies on offer in his tenure (three successive MTN8s and two Nedbank Cups in a row, plus a third final).

He successively closed the gap on eight-time champions on the trot Mamelodi Sundowns as runners-up in the Betway Premiership from 16 to 23 to 12, the last in the past campaign where Pirates were contenders until the final few weeks.

Perhaps most impressively, he also he steered Pirates to their first Champions League semifinal since reaching the final in 2013. Bucs went through their first group stage since 2018-19 — their second round-robin phase since 2013 — unbeaten with 14 points to second-placed Al Ahly's nine.

Pirates were the only unbeaten team left in the competition at the quarterfinal and semifinal stages.

Riveiro's appointment brings to an end Ahly's search for a full-time successor to Swiss coach Marcel Koller, who left the club in late April.