Diaa Al-Sayed has picked the new rising stars of Egyptian football, such as Zamalek’s duo Omar Gaber, Mohamad Ibrahim, Arab Contractors’ striker Mohamad Salah and Masry’s first team goalkeeper Ahmad El-Shenawy, who all produced a string of fine displays in the Egyptian Premier League this season, for his under-20 squad to contest the African Youth Championship.

The Pharaohs’ have ended their preparations for the continental youth tournament with a 3-1 win over Cameroon on Wednesday in Cairo. The Egyptian youth team, who has been paired with hosts South Africa, Lesotho and Mali in Group A, travel to Johannesburg next Sunday, one week before the start of the competition.

The first two teams of each group will qualify for FIFA -20 World Cup in Colombia set to be played in July. The African Youth Championship was initially scheduled to take place in Libya between 18 March and 1 April, but was moved to South Africa because of ongoing strife in Libya against the Muammar Gaddafi regime.

The Egypt squad:

Goalkeepers: Ahmed Al-Shenawy and Mohamed Awad

Defenders: Ramy Rabiaa, Omar Gaber, Ahmed Hegazy, Mohames Abdel-Fattah, Ahmed Beheiry, Ahmed Sobhy, Ayman Ashraf, Hussein El-Sayed and Aly Fathy.  

Midfielders: Mohamed Al-Neny, Ahmed Tawfique, Ahmed Nabil, Mohamed Ibrahim, Ahmed Youness and Mahmoud Ezzat

Strikers: Mohamed Salah, Mohamed Sobhy, Ahmed Hassan and Mohamed Hamdy.