Portuguese coach Rui Vitoria has unveiled the Egyptian team which will play in the next African Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast, including in its ranks Liverpool star striker Mohamed Salah and Al Ahly returnee Mahmoud Abdel Moneim, Kahraba said.
Although present in the preliminary list of 55 players presented by Rui Vitoria, Pyramids FC attacking midfielder Abdallah Saïd was ultimately not selected, like Mahmoud Hamdy (Zamalek SC), Hussein El Shahat (Al Ahly) and Mohamed Magdy (Al Ahly).
Asked about the ambitions of the “Pharaohs” – the team with the most victories in the CAN (7) – to win the title, Vitoria was cautious: “Each match will be approached as a final (.. .), we will not think of anything else”. Unhappy finalists against Senegal in 2021, the Egyptians will start the next CAN, organized from January 13 to February 11 in group B, with Mozambique, Ghana and Cape Verde.
The list of 27 players selected:
Gardiens: Mohamed Elshenawy (Al Ahly), Ahmed El-Shenawy (Pyramids FC), Mohamed Abou Gabal (National Bank of Egypt SC), Mohamed Sobhi (Zamalek SC).
Defenders: Ahmed Hegazy (Al-Ittihad Club), Mohamed Abdel Monemem (Al Ahly), Mohamed Hany (Al Ahly), Ali Gabr, Osama Galal, Ahmed Samy and Mohamed Hamdy Sharaf (Pyramids FC), Omar Kamal Abdelwahed (Futur FC), Ahmed Fatouh (Zamalek SC).
Milieux: Hamdi Fathi (Al-Wakrah SC, Qatar), Mohamed Elneny (Arsenal, Angleterre), Marwan Attia, Emam Ashour, Ahmed Nabil Koka (Al Ahly), Ahmed Sayed “Zizou” (Zamalek SC), Mahmoud Hamada (Al- Masry).
Forwards: Mohamed Salah (Liverpool, England), Mostafa Fathi (Pyramids FC), Mahmoud “Trezeguet” Hassan (Trabzonspor, Turkey), Omar Marmoush (Eintracht Frankfurt, Germany), Mostafa Mohamed (Nantes, France), Mahmoud Abdel Moneim “Kahraba » (Al Ahly), Ahmed Hassan “Kuka” (Bendikspor, Turkey).
