Jose leads Al Ahly against Angola's Santos in the Confederation Cup

Manuel Jose will get a hint of what lies ahead as Angola coach when Al Ahly host Santos on Saturday in the final knockout round of the Confederation Cup.

The Portuguese coach leaves Al Ahly at the end of May to take charge of the 2010 African Nations Cup hosts.

His final continental tie with the Cairo 'Red Devils' will be plotting the downfall of Angolan club Santos in the second-tier African competition.

This round brings together the eight clubs who survived a three-phase Confederation Cup elimination process with those who fell at the final Champions League qualifying hurdle.

Santos have exceeded expectations by ousting USM of Gabon and Union Douala of Cameroon.

Six-time African Champions Ahly are in the competition because they suffered a shock Champions League defeat at the hands of Kano Pillers of Nigeria.

Ahly captain Shady Mohamed has assured supporters that neither the imminent departure of the 63-year-old Jose, nor 'demotion' to the Confederation Cup will lessen the appetite of the squad for success.

"The exit of Manuel should not affect us. We are professional footballers whose objective is to be winners every time we play," he said.

"He is a much respected coach among us and we love him as a person, but in football there is no room for emotions."

Ahly may lack veteran defender Wael Gomaa against Santos as he injured a groin in a national championship win over Haras El Hadood on Monday having just overcome hamstring problems.

The Santos fixture marks the start of a hectic period for Ahly as they fulfil their final league fixture on 20 May and face a possible title play-off against Ismaili before travelling to Angola for the second leg.

Asec Mimosas of Ivory Coast, Entente Setif of Algeria and Vita Club of the DR Congo are the other former African champions in the most powerful line-up since the Confederation Cup was launched five years ago.

On Saturday Champions League runners-up Coton Sport of Cameroon have home advantage over Vita.

The only game on Sunday is in Abidjan as Egyptian petroleum company club Enppi tackle Asec.

Tunisia's CS Sfaxien, who are trying to win the cup for a third straight year, make the long journey south to confront Angola's Primeiro Agosto in Luanda on Saturday.

The team from the Mediterranean city of Sfax are seeking a record third consecutive title having overcome Al Merreikh of Sudan and Etoile du Sahel of Tunisia in the previous two finals.

The other tie is in Morocco on Saturday as Al Ittihad Khemisset play Stade Malien of Mali.

The second legs of the games are scheduled for the end of May with the eight winners being split in two pools with the group winners advancing to the final.

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