Two weeks after leaving South Africa's Orlando Pirates, José Riveiro was announced on social media as the new head coach of Egypt's Al Ahly on Thursday ahead of the FIFA Club World Cup (June 14 - July 13).
Riveiro will be thrown straight into the deep end at the Club World Cup in the USA. Ahly are in Group A with Inter Miami, Palmeiras and FC Porto.
A top two finish would be needed to advance to the knockout rounds of the 32-team tournament. Other African representatives in the tournament are Sundowns, Wydad and Espérance de Tunis.
Ahly are Africa's most successful club and recently wrapped up a 45th Egyptian Premier League title. They have won 12 CAF Champions League titles - four of which have come since the 2019-20 season. This will be one of only two seasons since then in which another side will lift the trophy.
Ahly were beaten on away goals in the semi-finals by South Africa's Mamelodi Sundowns - who also edged Pirates to an eighth successive Betway Premiership title. Sundowns will face Pyramids FC in a two-legged final and one of those two teams will become the only one other than Wydad Casablanca to halt Ahly's dominance in Africa since 2019-20.
Riveiro's predecessor, Marcel Koller, was sacked following the narrow exit at the hands of Sundowns - a sign of the sky-high standards at Ahly. Emad El-Nahhas took over as interim head coach and guided the club to their third successive Premier League title.
Riveiro joins them, reportedly on a two-year contract, off the back of a remarkably successful stint at Pirates. His three years in Johannesburg saw him win three MTN8 titles and two Nedbank Cups. Pirates also made the semi-finals of the CAF Champions League, losing 3-2 on aggregate to Pyramids.
The Spanish mentor arrived at Pirates as a relative unknown to their fans in 2022, despite having been the head coach of Finland's Inter Turku. Nevertheless, Riveiro departed Pirates with 80 wins, 26 draws and 26 defeats in 132 matches.
Perhaps most notably, he has ensured that Sundowns always have to look over their shoulders even despite the Tshwane club's heavy spending.
He officially left after a 3-0 win over Golden Arrows two weeks before the end of the season and paid tribute to Pirates management for their support in a three-year stint.
He told the media: "I will never coach any other team in SA. I am a Buccaneer and Orlando Pirates is the only club I could have the motivation and courage, energy and heart to coach in SA."