Ahly s newly appointed Uruguayan coach Martin Lasarte has welcomed his warm reception by the Cairo giants management, explaining that he came to Ahly to win trophies.
The Red Devils management held a press conference early on Monday at the club s headquarters to introduce the new coach to the media.
"I thank all the attendance for the warm welcome, I chose to coach Ahly as they are one of the great teams in the area and they have a great history in the continent," Lasarte told reporters.
The Uruguayan coach signed a one-and-a-half-year contract with Ahly on Sunday.
"I came to Egypt to win and I found the team is ready with the objectives to achieve trophies," he said.
"We all have to do our best to achieve the target," Lasarte added.
"Despite the team s great history, I need time to know the squad well."
"Ahly is one of the best ten teams in the world at winning trophies."
"I will get to know the players before choosing their formation, as in Europe they play with 4-2-3-1 formation while in South America they play with 4-3-3 formation, so I will choose the applicable formation for Egyptian football," the Uruguayan coach said.
"I chose to coach Ahly as they are a big team who have great targets, and I respect people who adore football."
Lasarte is an experienced boss who has managed a handful of clubs in Uruguay, including River Plate and Nacional. He led the latter club to the domestic league title in 2005 and 2006.
His other achievements include steering Universidad Chile to the 2014 Apertura title and Copa Chile to the same title the following year. He has also had spells outside South America with Emirati club Al-Wasl and Spanish side Real Sociedad.
Ahly have been led by caretaker coach Mohamed Youssef since Frenchman Patrice Carteron was sacked last month following a bitter loss to Tunisia s Esperance in the African Champions League final, and their elimination from the Arab Zayed Cup in the last 16 stage. Youssef will be assistant coach under Lasarte, the same role he played under Carteron.
Ahly have played just 10 league matches so far in the domestic season, as opposed to 17 played by other teams, due to their participation in both the Champions League and the Arab Club Champions Cup (Zayed Champions Cup).
Ahly currently lie eighth on the league table with 20 points from 10 matches, 15 behind arch-rivals Zamalek, who have played four more matches.
