Egyptian club redeploys Amuneke after just three games

Egyptian side, Misr El-Makkasa have confirmed that former Nigeria international Emmanuel Amuneke has been removed from his job as head coach after less than a month in the role, reports BBC.

El-Makkasa only announced the appointment of Amuneke on February 2 after they ended the contract of former coach, Ahmed Hossam Mido.

The club issued a statement yesterday, naming Ehab Galal as the new coach with Amuneke taking over another position at the club.

“We reached an agreement with Ehab Galal to lead the team and he will start on Monday as the team prepares to play against Aswan in the Egyptian League,” the statement said.

“Amuneke will be the director of the club’s academies that we are planning to launch across Africa – the first of which was recently opened in Tanzania”, El-Makkasa added.

The 49-year-old Amunike, who led Tanzania at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations, took charge of Maqassa for only two matches, with his side playing out two draws with Smouha and El-Entag El-Harby.

The former Nigeria striker is an idol figure in Egypt after hitting stardom with Zamalek in the early years of his career.

Amunike joined the Cairo giants from Nigeria’s Julius Berger in 1991 and went on to win two domestic league titles and one African Champions League crown in a glorious three-year spell with the club.

Amunike also played for Portugal’s Sporting, Spanish giants Barcelona and Albacete before ending his career at Jordanian club Al-Wehdat in 2004.

Maqassa reinstated their former coach Galal in order to rescue their season as the team dropped to third from bottom after a string of poor results.

The 52-year-old, who left Masry last month after an 18-month spell, enjoyed a career-high during his three-year spell at Maqassa from 2014-2017, helping them secure African Champions League football for the first time in their history after they finished second in the domestic league in 2017.

El-Makkasa is struggling in the Egyptian league, lying in 16th place on 14 points.