Egypt players celebrate after scoring against Chad in a World Cup qualifier game (Reuters)
Argentinean manager of the Egyptian national team Hector Cuper has called 32 Egypt-based players for the Pharaohs training camp kicking-off 23 January.
Egypt will play two friendly games within the camp, with the first against Jordon on 27 January, two days before playing Libya.
The squad combined 20 players from the Cairo-based clubs Ahly and Zamalek, 10 players from each, and another 12 from other clubs.
Players from Ahly, Petrojet, Masry, ENPPI and El-Entag El-Harby will join the camp on Saturday, a day before Zamalek, Ismaily, Smouha and Wadi Degla players, due to league commitments.
The team will head to Aswan on Monday for the friendly games played amid preparations for the upcoming continental competitions.
Egypt will face Nigeria on 23 and 27 March respectively in the 2017 African Nations Cup qualifiers. They reached the final qualifiers leading Group G with six points, two ahead of Nigeria.
The seven-time African winners have been out of action since beating Chad 4-1 on aggregate last November in the 2018 World Cup qualifiers, bidding for a return to the prestigious tournament after an absence since 1990.
The Pharaohs will be drawn into a four-team group, with the winners directly reaching the 2018 finals in Russia. The draw will be made in July and the group stage will start in October.
Egypt 32-player squad:
Goalkeepers: Sherif Ekrami (Ahly), Ahmed El-Shennawi (Zamalek), El-Mahdi Soilman (Smouha), Mohamed El-Shennawi (Petrojet)
Defenders: Rami Rabia, Ahmed Hegazy, Sabri Rahil, Mohamed Hany (Ahly), Omar Gaber, Hamada Tolba, Ahmed Dwidar, Ali Gabr (Zamalek), Mohamed Magdi (Masry), Ali Fathi (El-Entag El-Harby), Mohamed Nasef (ENPPI).
Midfielders: Hossam Ghaly, Ramadan Sobhi, Momen Zakareya, Abdallah El-Said (Ahly), Tarek Hamed, Mostafa Fathi, Mahmoud Kahraba, Ayman Hefny (Zamalek), Ibrahim Salah, Ayman Ashraf (Smouha), Nour El-Sayed (ENPPI), Ahmed Magdi (El-Entag El-Harby), Karim Mamdouh (Wadi Degla).
Strikers: Amr Gamal (Ahly), Bassem Morsi (Zamalek), Ahmed Raouf (Masry), Marawan Mohsen (Ismaily)
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