New Egypt keeper Ahmed El-Shennawy came in for praise by FIFA’s official website in a long interview published on Monday.

“El-Masry goalkeeper Ahmed El-Shennawy has had an impressive 2011, garnering praise for his consistently excellent performances for Egypt in major tournaments,” the website noted.

“The sequence started at the CAF African Youth Championship in South Africa in April and was followed by the FIFA U-20 World Cup Colombia,” FIFA added. “Then came the final qualifying round for the Olympic Football Tournament London 2012 in Morocco, under the guidance of coach Hani Ramzy, where the Baby Pharaohs booked their ticket with a third-place finish.”

Speaking to FIFA, El-Shennawy stated: “It’s been quite a year for me personally, what with my winning the award for best goalkeeper at the U-20 African Youth Championships. However, if I had to pick one moment, it would be beating Senegal to take third place in Morocco and qualify for the 2012 Olympics.”

He added: “I’m hoping we do really well. This will be the last major tournament for this generation of young players, so I want us to get past the group stage and really make our mark. We’ll be playing strong sides and it won’t be easy. I also hope that as many of our players as possible get picked up by major clubs. It’s a dream for all of us.”

El-Shennawy went on to praise the Pharaohs coach, American Bob Bradley, expressing hope that the team would earn, under Bradley’s leadership, a ticket to the 2014 World Cup finals in Brazil. He also spoke about his replacing long-time Egypt goalkeeper Essam El-Hadary for Brazil’s friendly last month in Qatar.

“It was a very tough match,” he said. “Your first game for the national side is always going to be a nervous time, and it doesn’t make it any easier when you’re playing a side like Brazil. For the first five minutes I was terrified, but I settled down after that and did my job. That game was a turning point in my life, to be honest.”

El-Shennawy insisted that he was committed to his Port Said-based club, dismissing rumours that he had plans to move to one of Cairo’s two giants, Ahly or Zamalek.

“I don’t think this is the right moment for me to leave. I’d like to win something with El-Masry, and also have success with the Olympic team in London or with the Egypt senior team before I start thinking of moving on,” he said. “I have yet to win a single title, after all. El-Masry have assured me that they will not block a potential move if the offer is good, but only after the end of this season.”

He concluded: “We have a good chance of winning the Egypt Cup this year, and I would like to be part of that.”

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