Borussia Dortmund forward Mohamed Zidan is set to spearhead Egypt’s attack in next week’s anticipated African Cup of Nations qualifier at South Africa after recovering from injury.
The talented marksman handed Egypt coach Hassan Shehata a timely boost after shrugging off a broken rib injury to make the Pharaohs’s squad for the South Africa encounter, which will take place at Ellis Park on 26 March.
Shehata was already deprived of strikers Emad Meteb and Amr Zaki after the influential duo picked up injuries lately.
Sunderland’s Ahmed Elmohamady, Essam El-Hadary of Sudan’s Merreikh and Ahmed Ali of Saudi Arabia’s Hilal complete the list of foreign-based players in Egypt’s squad
Ahly forward Mohamed Nagy ‘Gedo’ was also included in the roster despite hurting his jaw in the team’s 2-0 home victory over South Africa’s SuperSport United in the African Champions League on Friday.
Gedo’s club teammate Mohamed Shawky returned to the national team’s fold after a long absence. He was given a new lease of life after rejoining Ahly last summer following a disappointing spell at English second-division side Middlesbrough.
Egypt need to beat South Africa away from home to boost their chances of finishing on top of Group G and reaching next year’s Nations Cup finals in Equatorial Guinea and Gabon.
South Africa top the group with four points from two games, three ahead of bottom side Egypt who made a poor start to their qualifying campaign.
Egypt, who won the past three Nations Cups, are the record holders of Africa’s premier tournament with seven titles under their belt.
Egypt’s squad:
Goalkeepers: Essam El-Hadary (Merreikh, Sudan), Abdel-Wahed El-Sayed (Zamalek), Mohamed Sobhy (Ismaily)
Defenders: Ahmed Fathi, Wael Gomaa, Sayed Moawad (Ahly), Ahmed Elmohamady (Sunderland), Ahmed Samir Farag (Ismaily), Mahmoud Fathallah (Zamalek), Mohamed Naguib (Ittihad El-Shorta)
Midfielders: Hosni Abd-Rabou, Amr El-Sulaya (Ismaily), Mohamed Shawky, Hossam Ghaly, Mohamed Abou-Treika (Ahly), Ibrahim Salah, Shikabala (Zamalek), Walid Soliman (ENPPI)
Strikers: Mohamed Zidan (Borussia Dortmund, Germany), Ahmed Ali (Hilal, Saudi Arabia), Al-Sayed Hamdy (Petrojet), Gedo (Ahly), Ahmed Belal (Smouha)
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