Egypt coach Hassan Shehata has received a timely boost 24 hours before his bid to become only the second manager to capture consecutive African Nations Cup titles.
The vote of confidence ahead of Sunday's final with Cameroon came from the Egyptian Football Federation who have offered him a new contract up to the 2010 World Cup.
The move is unusual in the fluid world of African football contracts and comes just after Ghana coach Claude Le Roy was asked to stay on by his federation despite the hosts' semi-final loss to the Cameroonians on Thursday.
Victory for Shehata's side at the Ohene Djan stadium on Sunday will see him join Charles Gyamfi, who guided Ghana to back to back titles in 1963 and 1965.
Shehata has succeeded in winning the African Nations Cup after failing three times as a player.
The former national team defender was a surprisingly low profile replacement for Italian Marco Tardelli in 2004 and many observers believed he would not even last until Egypt hosted the competition.
But he not only survived but thrived, making smart, timely substitutions and dropping Ahmed 'Mido' Hossam from the final after the pin-up striker reacted angrily to being taken off late in the semi-final triumph over Senegal.
With the same technical bench around him he has cemented his reputation as a shrewd operator in Ghana, with Egypt arriving at the 2008 final unbeaten and confident of retaining the African crown.
Egypt are gunning for a record sixth title.