Soccer - Aguirre extends reach to a new continent at Cup of Nations

When Egypt coach Javier Aguirre takes his place on the bench for the African Cup of Nations' opening game on Friday, he will add the championship to a unique collection of nomadic achievements on the international stage. Aguirre was appointed last year and carries a significant weight of expectation in charge of the host team in what will be his sixth international tournament across four continents, setting a unique record.

He has won the Concacaf Gold Cup with his native Mexico in 2009, taken the same country to the final of the Copa America and was in charge of Japan four years ago when they went out in the Asian Cup quarter-finals. Working at the Cup of Nations means he will have coached at four of the six continental championships – with the European Championship and the Oceania Nations Cup missing from his list.

On top of that, he coached Mexico at two World Cups – in 2002 in Japan and Korea and again in 2010 in South Africa. "I'm a very lucky guy because as a coach and an assistant coach, and also as a player, I played a lot of international events," he told reporters. "I started 43 years ago knowing nothing, with no expectations nor dreams, just to play. Now, aged 60, I am almost at the opening game of a massive tournament."

Speaking Spanish at a news conference, where his words were translated by an assistant into Arabic, and from that simultaneously into English and French, Aguirre was taciturn as he spoke about the opening game against Zimbabwe.

"We will play our usual game against Zimbabwe because we respect them very much. We prepared very well for this difficult game, which we must win. Right now, we are only thinking of the Zimbabwe game," he said.

But if the responses were dull, it betrayed a fiery side to the Mexican, who was sent off playing for his country when they hosted the 1986 World Cup. As a coach, in the Gold Cup in 2009, he kicked a player from opponents Panama in a scuffle on the touchline, was sent off and banned for three matches.

Aguirre was let go by Japan four years ago over fears his involvement in an ongoing match-fixing case would affect the team's bid to qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia. It relates to a La Liga game in 2011 when he was the manager of Real Zaragoza – an investigation shelved in 2017 but then looked at again last year. As of yet, no charges have been brought forward.

Aguirre has coached at Atletico Madrid and more recently won honours in the United Arab Emirates, where he worked for two years with Al Wahda. But Egypt could present his finest hour. "We are the favourites to win the 2019 Africa Cup," he said.