By John Essien
Rui Vitoria has signed a four-year contract to take over as coach of Egypt, the country´s football association said on Tuesday.
The 52-year-old former Benfica tactician succeeds his compatriot Carlos Queiroz, who left the job after failing to take the nation to the 2022 World Cup finals in Qatar.
Following Queiroz unceremonious exit, Ehab Galal was appointed as the Portuguese replacement but he was fired after just three matches in charge, which included a shock 2-0 defeat to Ethiopia at the start of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.
“We can confirm the appointment of Rui Vitoria on a four-year,” Egypt Football Association confirmed in a statement on their social media pages.
Vitoria was in charge of several Portuguese clubs, including Pacos Ferreira, Vitoria Guimaraes and Benfica, where he won back-to-back league titles in 2016 before moving to Saudi Arabia in 2017, where he won the league with Al Nassr and had a brief coaching spell at Spartak Moscow.
The first task Vitoria is saddled with is to help the seven-time continental champions qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast.
The Pharaohs are in Group D of the qualifiers and kicked off their campaign with a 1-0 win against Guinea before suffering a shock defeat against Ethiopia.
