Egypt Head Coach Hector Cuper has named a 27-man-provisional squad in preparations for the coming African Cup of Nations.
The Argentinian Coach excluded Zamalek striker Bassem Morsy who started against Ghana last month after the recent fallout but handed surprise calls to Zamalek’s Mohamed Ibrahim, Al-Masry striker Ahmed Gomaa and Ismaily and former Egypt U20 goalkeeper Mohamed Awad.
The pharaoh’s squad has only four players Essam El-Hadary, Ahmed Elmohamady, Mohamed Abdel-Shafy & Ahmed Fathi with Nations Cup experience but has a massive eleven foreign based players.
They will start preparations on 01 January, where they will face Tunisia in a friendly before heading to the AFCON six days later. Hector will, however, have to omit four players from the current 27 to meet the required final number.
They will be facing Uganda Cranes, the Black Stars of Ghana, and Mali in group D between 16th January and 5th Feb. They will count on in-form AS Roma winger Mohamed Salah, Arsenals Central Defensive Midfielder Mohamed Elneny, and Stock City Striker Ramadan Sobhi to motivate the mostly new squad come 14th.
Egypt’s Full Provisional Squad for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations:
Goalkeepers:
Ahmed El-Shennawi (Zamalek), Sherif Ekramy (Ahly). Hassan Awad (Ismaily) and Essam El-Hadary (Wadi Degla),
Defenders:
Ahmed Dwidar (Zamalek), Ahmed Elmohamady (Hull City, England), Ahmed Fathi (Ahly), Ahmed Hegazy (Ahly), Ali Gabr (Zamalek), Hamada Tolba (Masry), Karim Hafez (Nice, France), Mohamed Abdel-Shafi (Ahly Jeddah, Saudi Arabia), Omar Gaber (FC Basel, Switzerland) and Saad Samir (Ahly).
Midfielders:
Abdallah El-Said (Ahly), Ahmed Gomaa (Masry), Amr Warda (Panetolikos, Greece), Ibrahim Salah (Zamalek), Mahmoud ‘Trezeguet’ Hassan (Mouscron, Belgium), Mohamed Elneny (Arsenal, England), Mohamed Ibrahim (Zamalek) and Tarek Hamed (Zamalek),
Forwards:
Ahmed Hassan ‘Kouka’ (Braga, Portugal), Mahmoud Abdel-Moneim ‘Kahraba’ (Ahly Jeddah, Saudi Arabia), Marwan Mohsen (Ahly), Mohamed Salah (AS Roma, Italy) and Ramadan Sobhi (Stoke City, England).
Featured Photo: Courtesy of Getty Images
