Manuel Jose, former coach of Egyptian team Al-Ahly at his farewell presentation Ahly\'s former coach Manuel Jose, who recently resigned after spending eight years with the Cairo giants, has revealed that he will not return to job but would look back at his time in Egypt with great fondness.
Under the helm of Hassan Hamdy, the Ahly management team held a farewell for their former coach on Sunday to thank him for his achievements with the team.
\"Leaving Ahly was the hardest decision of my life,\" Jose told reporters during the farewell. \"The eight years I spent with Ahly were the best of my life.\"
\"I won\'t forget the Ahly fans and the kind Egyptian people, but what happened in the country (the Port Said massacre) was unbelievable.\"
\"I won\'t return to coach Ahly again but the time I spent with the team was very happy,\" Jose said.
The 66-year-old led Ahly to the 2001 African Champions League title and an earth-shattering 6-1 victory over arch-rivals Zamalek in the Cairo derby but suddenly departed in the summer of 2002.
Ahly brought him back in January 2004 after enduring a barren run and he lived up to expectations by steering them to a host of titles, including five Egyptian Premier League triumphs and three Champions League accolades.
Jose left Ahly in the summer of 2009 after earning cult status among the faithful, managing Angola\'s national team at the African Cup of Nations before a brief unsuccessful stint with Saudi giants Ittihad Jeddah.
The Portuguese returned to Ahly the summer of 2011, taking over from interim coach Abdel-Aziz Abdel-Shafy \'Zizo\', who had guided the club for five Egyptian Premier League games following the resignation of Hossam El-Badry.