After being snubbed for the recent CAF Awards, Al Ahly boss Marcel Koller has now been nominated for a top accolade alongside Manchester City's Pep Guardiola and Argentina manager Lionel Scaloni.
The Egyptian giants are bracing themselves for a thrilling clash against Al Ittihad at the 2023 FIFA Club World Cup on Friday.
Read: PICTURES: Ahly stars celebrate Tau's big CAF award win
The 11-time CAF Champions League winners received a confidence boost at the recent CAF Awards as they were named the 2023 Club of the Year, while Ahly stars Percy Tau and Mahmoud Kahraba also received the Men's Interclub Player of the Year and Goal of the Year awards, respectively.
However, despite winning a continental treble with the Red Devils last term, manager Koller was snubbed for the Coach of the Year prize, failing to make the top three nominees, which comprised Senegal head Aliou Cisse, Abdelhak Benchikha of Simba SC, and eventual winner Walid Regragui of the Morocco national team.
The Swiss' potential disappointment over his omission from that CAF prize has not lasted long, though, as he has since been shortlisted for the Best Coach of the Year accolade at the Globe Soccer Awards set to be held in January in Dubai.
Koller faces some stellar competition, however, as he has been nominated alongside seven other managers, including European treble winner Guardiola, 2022 FIFA World Cup champion Scaloni, Mikel Arteta of Arsenal, and Real Madrid's Carlo Ancelotti.
He is also the only non-international and non-Europe-based finalist, with the nomination list also including Serie A winner with Napoli Luciano Spalletti, 2022/23 LALIGA-winning tactician Xavi Hernandez of FC Barcelona, and 2022/23 UEFA Champions League finalists Inter Milan's Simone Inzaghi.
Some reports have suggested, however, that Koller's job in Cairo could be on the line, with television presenter and former Egyptian footballer Ibrahim Saeed recently claiming that the Club World Cup will determine the 63-year-old's fate at the Red Devils' helm.
Saeed told Al-Nahar channel: "The club Ahly sets the Club World Cup championship as a measure of his [Koller's] fate in order to continue.
"The club has provided all the things that Koller requested in order to achieve success. Club officials believe that they have made the contracts requested by Koller, including Anthony Modeste, who has failed so far.
"The team also signed Argentine Carlos Berenger as an assistant in the technical staff this season, although there was no difference in the team.
"Ahly officials are waiting for the team to appear in the Club World Cup
"Despite all of that, what happened this season was the team lost the African Super [Cup] Championship to USM Alger and then the African Super League."
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