Hector Cuper of Argentina, the new head coach of Egypt's national soccer team, speaks during a press conference at the soccer federation headquarters in Cairo, Egypt, Tuesday, March 10, 2015 (Photo: AP)
Egypt's coach Hector Cuper announced on Tuesday a 23-man squad of Egyptian-based players called up to a closed training camp this month.
According to the official website of the Egyptian Football Association, the training camp is due to start on Wednesday and continue until Saturday.
After beating Equatorial Guinea 2-0 in a friendly on 26 March, Egypt are working to continue preparing for the 2017 African Cup of Nations qualifiers by playing another friendly after the tournament draw that is scheduled to be held on 8 April.
After this perfect start at the Egypt helm, the Argentinean boss demanded more friendlies ahead of the qualifiers.
EFA officials are still negotiating with potential opponents for the friendly match, including Jordan, Ethiopia, and Sudan.
The national team’s coming camp will be without foreign-based players as it will be outside of FIFA's agenda.
Cuper, who twice led Spain's Valencia to a runners-up spot in the UEFA Champions League, has been tasked with helping record seven-time African champions Egypt reach the Africa Cup of Nations finals.
The Pharaohs have been uncharacteristically failing to achieve what used to be a routine qualification, missing out on the last three African Cup editions since last winning the title in 2010.
The full 23-man squad:
Hossam Ghaly, Emad Meteb, Sherif Ekramy, Walid Soliman, Basem Aly, Saad Samir, Huessin El-Sayed and Momen Zakarya (Ahly)
Ibrahim Salah, Ahmed Dweidar, Ahmed Eid, Hazem Emam, Ahmed El-Shenawy, Khaled Kamar, Basem Morsi, Ahmed Tawfik, Ayman Hefni, Ali Gabr (Zamalek)
Mohamed El-Shenawy (Petrojet), Amr El-Soulaya (Ismaily), Ali Fathi (Arab Contractors), Ahmed Hassan Mekki (Haras El-Hodoud), Ayman Ashraf (Smouha)
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