Cairo giants Ahli have dominated CAF awards for the year 2006, claiming three prizes in different categories which were announced in the gala that took place in Ghana capital Accra on Thursday. Ahli have been named club of the year after winning the African Champions League for the second successive time, their fifth in history to tie arch-rivals Zamalek's record. The Egyptian powerhouse continued their superiority in Africa by winning the African Super Cup after beating Morocco's Royal Armed forces 4-2 in penalty kicks at the Cairo International Stadium. Ahli got the nod ahead of Tunisia's Etoile Sahel, who won the CAF Confederation Cup, and Ivory Coast's Asec Mimosas. Portuguese manager Manuel Jose was chosen the best coach, beating off competition from Egypt national team boss Hassan Shehata and Asec's Patrick Liewig. Jose, the most successful coach in the club's history, guided Ahli to a host of trophies in his two separate spells at the helm.
Abou-Treika....the winner Jose took charge of Ahli in 2001 and guided the club to Champions League triumph in the same year before winning the African Super Cup one year later. After losing the 2002 Egyptian League title in the last match, Jose was axed but without him Ahli have endured a disappointing run in both local and continental competitions. He returned back to Ahli in 2004 where he enjoyed a tremendous campaign, winning back-to-back Champions League titles, two consecutive league triumphs, one Egyptian Cup, two local Super Cups as well as two African Super Cup titles. Finally, Ahli playmaker Mohamed Abou-Treika claimed the best player award in the Inter-Club player of the year category at the expense of Sfaxien's AbdelKerim Nafti and Asec's powerful forward Didier Ya Konan. The 28-year-old played a pivotal role in helping Egypt clinch the African Cup of Nations on home soil, scoring three goals and notching the decisive penalty kick in the final's shootout against Ivory Coast. He also led Ahli to the Champions League triumph, finishing as joint top scorer with eight goals along with Ya Konan as well as grabbing the last-gasp strike that stunned Sfaxien in the second-leg of the competition's final.
