Egyptian goalkeeper Essam El Hadary (Reuters)
Veteran goalkeeper Essam El-Hadary has rejoined Egypt squad for the first time since 2014 ahead of the Pharaohs' friendly match against Burkina Faso.
The Egyptian team will host Burkina Faso on 27 February in Alexandria amid preparations for the anticipated match against Nigeria in the 2017 Cup of Nations qualifiers in late March.
Egypt's Argentinean manager Hector Cuper has called 24 Egypt-based players on Saturday morning for the Pharaohs training camp kicking-off 23 February.
The squad combined 10 players from Ahly, eight from rivals Zamalek, and another six from other clubs.
Missing national duty for almost 15 months as the technical staff mainly depended on Ahly's goalkeeper Sherif Ekramy, the recent outstanding performances with Egyptian Premiere league club Wadi Degla earned the 43-year old El-Hadary his first ever call up in Cuper's line up.
Ekramy is currently suffering from an injury and that paved the way for the experienced keeper return.
The former Ahly, Zamalek and Ismaily star El-Hadary played a key role in guiding Egypt to winning three successive African Cup of Nations titles in 2006, 2008 and 2010.
He last appeared with the seven-time African champions in November 2014 when the Pharaohs lost 1-2 to Tunisia in the African Cup qualifiers under former coach Shawky Gharib.
Under the guidance of Cuper, who took over in March 2015, Egypt played two friendly matches late on January; losing 1-0 to Jordan before beating Libya 2-0.
Egypt are bidding to reach the Nations Cup for the first time since winning the last of their record seven titles in 2010.
They are on top of Group G of the Nations Cup qualifiers with a maximum six points from wins over Tanzania and Chad.
Nigeria are second with four points.
Egypt's full squad for Burkina Faso match:
Rami Rabia, Ahmed Hegazy, Hossam Ghaly, Sabry Rahil, Momen Zakaria, Ramadan Sobhy, Abdullah El-Saied, Saleh Gomaa, Amr Gamal and Mohamed Hani (Ahly).
Ahmed EL-Shenawy, Omar Gaber, Hazem Emam, Basem Morsi, Mostafa Fathi, Ali Gabr, Ahmed Dewidar, Hamada Tolba (Zamalek).
Essam El-Hadary (Wadi Degla), Ibrahim Salah (Smouha), Marawan Mohsen (Ismaily), Mohamed El-Shenawy (Petrojet), Nour El-Sayed (ENPPI), Ahmed Raouf (Masry).
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