Egypt's Meteb reverses retirement from international football

Egypt and Ahly striker Emad Meteb announces he will be available for national team after talks with Pharaohs coaching staff

Mahmoud Elassal, Monday 17 Sep 2012,

File photo: Egypt's Emad Meteab, left, looks on during the African Cup of Nations Group C soccer match at the Ombaka National Stadium in Benguela, Angola (Photo: AP)

Egypt and Ahly striker Emad Meteb has reversed his decision to retire from international football.

"I decided to continue wearing the Egypt national team jersey and have retreated from my previous decision to retire from international duty," Meteb said after Ahly's 1-1 draw with Zamalek in the African Champions League on Sunday.

The 29-year-old had announced that the 2012 Olympic Games would be the end of his international career. He was severely criticised for his performance at the tournament with Egypt’s U-23 national team.

"Egypt's technical staff convinced me to return to the squad again and to ignore all the criticism I received," he added.

The international striker, who played with Egypt’s U-23 national team as one of the three over-age players at the Olympics, was severely criticised after he wasted two easy chances in Egypt’s 1-1 draw with New Zealand at the tournament.

"I reversed my decision to retire as I have more to do with the national team and I am eager to triumph with Egypt," Meteb concluded.

Egypt assistant coach Diaa El-Sayed has expressed his pleasure at Meteb's decision, confirming he is one of the best players in the team.

"Meteb is one of the most experienced players in Egypt and he will help us in the 2014 World Cup qualifiers," El-Sayed told Ahram Online on Monday.

(For more sports news and updates, follow Ahram Online Sports on Twitter at @AO Sports and on Facebook at AhramOnlineSports)

Search Keywords:

Egypt

Meteb

soccer

football

Ahly

Zamalek

Short link:

ADD COMMENT

Your name:

Your email:

Comment’s Title:

Comment:

Ahram Online welcomes readers' comments on all issues covered by the site, along with any criticisms and/or corrections. Readers are asked to limit their feedback to a maximum of 4000 characters (roughly 200 words). All comments/criticisms will, however, be subject to the following code

We will not publish comments which contain rude or abusive language, libelous statements, slander and personal attacks against any person/s.
We will not publish comments which contain racist remarks or any kind of racial or religious incitement against any group of people, in Egypt or outside it.
We welcome criticism of our reports and articles but we will not publish personal attacks, slander or fabrications directed against our reporters and contributing writers.
We reserve the right to correct, when at all possible, obvious errors in spelling and grammar. However, due to time and staffing constraints such corrections will not be made across the board or on a regular basis.

Ali wrote:

18-09-2012 11:53pm

Expected... Typical Egyptian move

Hahaha. I called this from the first day he retired from football. I said on day one that he won't even last a few months before he returns on his decision. Its the typical Egyptian athlete's move. Look at Moteab (again), Aboutrika, and Barakat. All of them retired after the Port Said Disaster. And they all came back on their decisions. I find this news both as a relief (because he is a pretty good striker and can score a lot of goals) and funny because every Egyptian athlete does this :P

mohamed wrote: