Zamalek has announced that Portuguese tactician Jaime Pacheco will become their new coach after the departure of Patrice Carteron. He becomes the 18th different manager to be appointed by the club since the eccentric and controversial Egyptian lawyer Mortada Mansour was elected as club president on 29 March 2014.
He made the announcement on the club’s television channel late Wednesday, bringing an end to a week-long saga.
“Pacheco will sign a one-year contract,” Mansour said.
Pacheco was handed the job after the club’s first choice Jesualdo Ferreira, who had led them to a domestic double in 2015, declined the offer. He has been without a job since leaving China’s Tianjin Teda in 2017.
He returns to the club where he was first appointed in October 2014 as a replacement for the sacked Hossam Hassan. But he unexpectedly quit the then league leaders in early 2015 after falling out with Mansour, leaving with a record of nine wins and two draws from twelve games in charge.
The 62-year-old was a midfielder in his playing days, playing out his entire career in his native Portugal and earning 25 international caps. He started out his coaching career in the same country with Pacos Ferreira as a player-coach. He was responsible for Boavista FC’s greatest ever success.
In his first full season as manager, he led the club to a second-place finish, equalling its best performance in the league since the 1975–76 season. This led to the first-ever participation of the club in the UEFA Champions League in the 1999–2000 edition, and a fourth-place finish in the league.
It was followed by winning the league championship in 2001, followed by another participation in the UEFA Champions League second group stage and a 2002–03 UEFA Cup semi-final run.
Pacheco is widely traveled and has coached on three different continents. His main task will be leading Zamalek to their first Champions League title since 2002 and helping them finish as runners-up in the domestic league, which has already been won by bitter rivals Al Ahly.