Egypt head coach Hector Cuper has been named the African Coach of the Year for 2017 at the Aiteo CAF Awards in Accra, Ghana. 

Cuper beat off stiff competition from Nigeria coach Gernot Rohr, and L'Hussein Amoutta, who won CAF Champions League with Wydad Athletic Club, to claim the individual accolade. 

The Argentine tactician was the mastermind behind Egypt qualifying for their first FIFA World Cup since 1990. The Pharaohs finished top of qualifying group E ahead of the Black Stars. 

Hector Cuper is Coach of the Year #aiteoCAFawards2017 pic.twitter.com/hYwoiW3pVl

— CAF (@CAF_Online) January 4, 2018

Before that, he guided Egypt to the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations finals but lost the trophy to Cameroon gaffer Hugo Broos, who was surprisingly not nominated for the award. 

He becomes the first South American-born coach to win the award.