21-year-old Ghazal, who penned a four-and-a-half-year deal with Nacional de Madeira in January, confirmed to KingFut.com through ex-teammate Sherif Fayed interest from English Premier League side Swansea City and Saint-Étienne, who finished fourth in Ligue 1 this season.

The former Wadi Degla defensive midfielder, who can also play as a centre-back, revealed Saint-Étienne sent scouts to watch him perform in Madeira but neither of the suitors have yet to send an official offer.

Ali may have to wait for a potential move to the Premier League, his dream destination, as a work permit would likely be rejected since this is only his first season in Europe and the Aswan-born midfielder has only featured for the Egypt U-20 national team so far.

However, Egypt assistant coach Diaa El-Sayed revealed Ali Ghazal has been called-up to the Egyptian national team for the first time ahead of next month’s World Cup qualifiers against Zimbabwe and Mozambique, after impressing in the majority of the second-half of the season in Portugal helping Nacional finish in eighth with 40 points in the Liga Sagres.

Ghazal could be a potential replacement for Hosni Abd-Rabo, who’s will be out for several months after tearing the cruciate ligament in his right knee in a league match with Saudi Arabia’s Al-Nasr, while Hossam Ghaly has only just returned to training with Al-Ahly.

Bob Bradley has also recalled Ayman Hefny to the Pharaohs’ squad, following the talented attacking midfielder’s impressive performances with El-Gaish this season. The complete squad for the upcoming camp is expected to be announced on Monday.

The Pharaohs are currently five points clear off their nearest rivals in their World Cup qualifying group with 9 points, after maintaining their perfect run in Group G against Zimbabwe in March. If Egypt finish on top, they then would qualify for the final two-legged round against one of the other nine group leaders for a place at next year’s World Cup in Brazil.

Egypt: A Look Ahead to the Final Round of World Cup Qualifying

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19-year-old Mohamed Essam, who joined Legia Warsaw on loan from Wadi Degla following a successful three-week trial, impressed at the International Cor Groenewegen Tournament that ran on May 18 and 20 in Holland, scoring against Norwich and Swedish club Halmstad.

With the matches shortened in the youth tournament involving Atlético Mineiro, AZ Alkmaar, RCD Espanyol, Torino, Norwich City, FC Uitgeest, Halmstad and Legia, Egypt’s Essam scored two goals in the second and final day of the tournament against Norwich and Halmstad.

The Egypt youth international scored the third goal in Legia’s 3-1 win against Norwich U20s, and he also scored the only goal against Halmstad after skipping past several Swedish defenders before scoring from an acute angle.

However, the Polish side lost both fixtures on the opening day (May 18) against Halmstad and local side AZ Alkmaar, with the latter going on to lose in the final against Atlético Mineiro.

On the international stage, Essam has scored one goal in the four matches he’s played with the Egypt U-20 national team, but was not apart of the squad that recently won the African Youth Championship in Algeria.

- thanks to Ahmad Matar and Islam Issa

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As transfer season approaches, Mohamed Al-Hendy analyzes the Gedo – Ahmed Fathi situation and Al-Ahly’s transfer policy as a whole in relation to Europe.

So far, it’s been a good year for Egyptian footballers outside the domestic league. Egypt’s victory in the U-20 African Championship has reignited interest in Egyptians from abroad, probably more than a Africa Cup of Nations victory would have, since clubs almost invariably prefer to bring in young, talented players for cheap rather than experienced, developed players who they can’t mold too much and have to pay top dollar (or pound) for. As a result, already this calendar year, we’ve seen Saleh Gomaa go on trial with RSC Anderlecht & Borussia Dortmund, Ahmed Refaat go on trial with Sevilla, Amr El-Sulaya go on trial with Villarreal, and Mohamed Essam join Legia Warsaw on an extended three-week trial/loan.

Egypt’s top two talents practicing side-by-side at FC Basel.

In terms of actual transfers, Mohamed El-Nenny & Mohamed Salah have become the two most exciting prospects in Egyptian football since joining FC Basel and playing a major role in their run to the Europa League final. Salah was recently named as one of the Europa League’s top eight rising stars on top of being Africa’s Most Promising Talent, and he has been strongly linked with Tottenham  in recent months.

More quietly in the Portuguese league, Ahmed Hassan has done terrifically well at Rio Ave, scoring eight goals in his last 12 games of the season to help Rio Ave finish comfortably in seventh and announce his arrival to the world. At this point, he is quite likely Egypt’s best hope at the forward spot for the next couple of years, and will get the chance to prove himself to at the national level when the travels with the Egyptian U-20 team to the U-20 World Cup in June.

But while it’s great to see so many Egyptians succeeding abroad, it is important to note that they could not have done it on their own. Every aforementioned player (with the exception of Ahmed Hassan) had to get permission from their Egyptian club to pursue a career abroad and develop into a better player for their own good and the good of Egyptian football.

Seems like a no-brainer, that Egyptian clubs would let their top youth talents go if they truly possessed the talent to cut it in Europe, provided they would be fairly compensated, right? Not quite. While ENPPI & Arab Contractors, and most of the Egyptian Premier League’s smaller clubs, have got it down, Al-Ahly remain stubborn as ever. And in doing so, they are standing in the way of further progress for Egyptian football.

Gedo & Fathi have made a real impact for Hull in their loan spell with the club.

Take Gedo & Ahmed Fathi’s recent move to Hull. Although both experienced some struggles during their loan spell, Gedo in the form of injury & Fathi in the form of limited playing time, both played significant roles in securing promotion to the English Premier League for Hull City. As such, both expressed the desire to remain with Hull next season, when interviewed recently by Sky Sports.

But while Al-Ahly, via Hossam El-Badri, their former head coach, initially seemed in support of the idea of letting Gedo and Fathi go, they’ve since u-turned on this decision and made clear their desire not to allow either of them, or Mohamed Abou-Treika, currently on loan at Bani Yas, to leave.

It should also be noted until very recently, Al-Ahly were opposed to letting Mahmoud Hassan “Trezeguet” go on loan to French club Nice either, even though he’s started one game all season long and Al-Ahly has a player, Ahmed Shokry, who can play the same positions, is competent & capable, but has been kept on the bench for most of the season.

Obviously, it does not make sense for Al-Ahly to let go of every single player who wants a transfer out of the club; after all, Al-Ahly is a club with a proud history and they want to make sure they can continue to challenge for the domestic league  & CAF Champions League.

But in the same vein, it is not easy to make it in Europe, or even get the opportunity to show off your talents. Just ask Al-Ahly striker Emad Metab, who has thrown away chance after chance, first with Bristol City then with Standard Liège.

If you’re not a youth player in Egypt, you have to be among the very best in the domestic league AND prove yourself in international football to gain consideration from European clubs. Ahmed Fathi & Gedo are part of a select few who’ve done this. In any other African or Asian country, they’d have been allowed to go with ease. Heck, even if Fathi and Gedo were Brazilian or American, they’d probably have agreed a deal by now; even though Brasileirão clubs and the MLS tend to be a bit more stubborn, they still understand that in modern football, the wisest move is to let those players targeted by top clubs leave for the betterment of their careers and domestic football.

Zamalek, for the record, are not immune to this; they themselves have frustrated attempts by Anderlecht to sign Shikabala and Wigan to sign Amr Zaki in the past. Recently, they’ve not been tested by transfer bids for their players, though that has to do more with Zamalek’s more youth-oriented approach and new look this season than anything else.

Zamalek & Al-Ahly, admittedly, are not like the other clubs of the Egyptian Premier League. They have to deal with more fixtures in the form of the CAF Champions League—though you could argue that the CAF Confederations Cup is equally burdensome on the league’s mid-table clubs of Ismaily, ENPPI, Harras El Hodoud, etc—and most significantly, their ultras are probably the most demanding, rowdy group of ultras in Africa.

That being said, it is possible to achieve a balance between keeping a strong, unified squad capable of winning trophies and letting truly talented players pursue careers in Europe. The latter does not have to preclude the former, if done right. In the case of Ahmed Fathi & Gedo, it only makes sense that after the years of service they’ve put in for Al-Ahly, that they be given this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. As we’ve seen with Metab, Zaki, Ghaly and to various extents with other Egyptian stars, the chance to truly make it in Europe rarely comes twice.

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Mohamed El-Nenny was the only Egyptian to feature in the Swiss Cup final, starting in his usual central midfield position. The other Egypt international Mohamed Salah was suspended after he picked up a second yellow card in the semi-final against FC Sion.

FC Basel took the lead in the 71st minute when Markus Steinhofer found the net, but it took only four minutes for Grasshoppers to equalise when Izet Harjovic scored.

After full time, the game ended 1-1 and proceeded to extra time. El-Nenny was booked in the 91st minute, and after 120 minutes nothing could separate the two teams so the game went to penalties.

Grasshoppers eventually won the penalty shoot-out 4-3, while El-Nenny did not participate. The result was a massive blow for FC Basel who were aiming for a domestic double.

FC Basel are still league leaders with three games to play and remain six points clear of second place Grasshoppers, who they play again next Sunday.

Ahmad Yousef: Follow @EgyptianPlayers

Egypt, who head to next month’s U-20 World Cup in Turkey as champions of Africa for the first time since 2003, have named their provisional squad for the tournament.

Egypt U-20 captain Rami Rabia is currently recovering from surgery after sustaining a knee injury earlier this month, but the Ahly centre-back has been named in the squad as he is expected to be fit for next month’s World Cup. Scouts from top European clubs are expected to keep watch on Rabia in Turkey, and Sky Sports have recently added Manchester United and Chelsea to the list of suitors.

ENPPI’s Saleh Gomaa will likely be the heart of Egypt’s midfield after winning the MVP at the 2013 African Youth Championship. Gomaa has since impressed on trials with Anderlecht and Champions League finalists Borussia Dortmund.

Once again Rabie Yassin, who led Egypt to winning the 2013 African Youth Championship in Algeria, only chose two European-based Pharaohs in PSV’s Egyptian-Danish attacking midfielder Alexander Jakobsen (known as Amir Adel in Egypt) and Rio Ave’s Ahmed ‘Koka’ Hassan, who has scored eight league goals in his debut season in Portugal this year.

France-born Abdallah Yaisien, who told KingFut.com he dreams of representing Egypt, wasn’t included in the squad after falling out with coach Rabie Yassin over missing the U-20 African Championship in March.

Hoffenheim’s Germany U18 centre-back Rhami-Jasin Ghandour also was not included following controversy over the completion of his paperwork in Egypt. Son to an Egyptian father, Rhami was on the verge of completing his international switch to Egypt prior to the 2013 AYC, but despite training with the Egypt U-20 team and taking part in friendlies, his paperwork was left unfinished and is now likely to continue with the Germany youth national teams.

The Young Pharaohs will join Chile, England and Iraq in Group E of the U-20 World Cup that will run from June 21 to July 13 in Turkey.

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Squad:

Goalkeepers: Mossad Awad (Ismaily), Mahmoud Hamdy (Zamalek), Hassan Mahmoud (Arab Contractors).

Defenders: Ibrahim Hassan, Rami Rabia (Ahly), Ossama Ibrahim, Mahmoud Waheed (ENPPI), Mohamed El-Baaly (Ismaily),  Mohamed Adel (Ittihad of Alexandria), Yasser Ibrahim (Mansoura), Ibrahim El-Hadad (Wadi Degla).

Midfielders: Hossam Ghaly, Mohamed El-Shammy, Mahmoud Hassan ‘Trezeguet’ (Ahly), Ahmed Samir (Dakhleya), Mahmoud ‘Kahraba’ Abdel-Moneam, Saleh Gomaa, Ahmed Refaat, Mahmoud Sabry (ENPPI), Mahmoud Hamad, Mahmoud Metwaly (Ismaily), Mohamed Ashraf (Petrojet), Amir Adel ‘Alexander Jakobsen’ (PSV, Netherlands).

Strikers: Ahmed  ‘Koka’ Hassan (Rio Ave, Portugal), Omar Bassam (Ahly), Youssef ‘Agogo’ Abdullah (Police Union), Mohamed Abdel-Maguid (Zamalek)

Mohamed El-Arabi, Sherif Hadad, Mohamed El-Azab, Mohamed Hassan, Ahmed Hassan, Abdel-Rahman Salah, Mostafa Hassan and Mohamed Ahmed were also named in the squad.

- Thanks to Karim Morcos (@KarimTotti)

19-year-old Egyptian central midfielder Saleh Gomaa has been on two consecutive one-week trials in Europe this month with Anderlecht and Borussia Dortmund, ahead of a potential summer transfer from Egyptian side ENPPI.

Gomaa, who won the MVP at the 2013 African Youth Championship in March, told former Egypt national team media officer AbdulRahman Magdy on Al Kahera Wal Nas TV: ”I had a very good week in Germany with Borussia Dortmund. I benefited a lot especially since the team is training for the Champions League final.”

“All the players were friendly and welcoming to me even though they were training for a final. Even Jürgen Klopp spoke very well with me and gave me instructions.

“Klopp is a very respectful manager. The players deal with him more like a brother rather than a coach.

“Borussia Dortmund don’t usually bring in players on trial. I might be the only player to have a trial at the club in a year or a year and a half, which is an honour for me.

“They have a scout who watched me in the [U20] African Cup of Nations tournament and then they sent me an invitation for a trial at the club.

On Nuri Şahin, who rejoined Dortmund this year on loan from Real Madrid, Gomaa said: “When I first entered the club he was the only player in the dressing room, so we talked. When he knew I was from Egypt he said he’s very good friends with Mohamed Zidan and also likes Mohamed Abou-Treika a lot. He’s a very respectable character.”

“The cameramen filming the training thought I was a youth player promoted to the first team,” he added.

Gomaa also spoke about the special treatment he received from Dortmund manager Jürgen Klopp, “During training sessions, he was giving instructions in German while talking to the players, but between the intervals he gave me directions in English.”

“When I first arrived he [Klopp] stood up to welcome me. He talked about Zidan and said, ‘I hope you become like Mohamed Zidan, who I coached at Mainz and here. He’s a good player.’ In the end, before I traveled he [Klopp] said, ‘I’m happy with you and hopefully you’ll be with us [next season]‘.

“My agent will be sitting with Borussia Dortmund and Anderlecht and discuss all the details. Nothing is confirmed at the moment.”

Dortmund, who recently lost the Bundesliga title to Bayern Munich, will clash again with the German giants one week from now in the UEFA Champions League final.

Gomaa will likely be the heart of Egypt’s midfield when they join Chile, England and Iraq in Group E of the U-20 World Cup in Turkey this June.

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Having been two goals away from winning the GCC Champions League, Bani Yas now have the Cup in their sights. Senegalese Andre Sengahor’s 69th-minute equalizer secured an important away goal advantage over Qatar’s Al Khor in the Championship final’s first leg after a 1-1 draw.

It was a pleasing conclusion to what, until then, had been another unsatisfying night for the Emirati club. With Al Khor looking dangerous on the wings for the entirety of the first half, it was obvious who were the hungrier of the two.

Legendary Egyptian Mohamed Abou-Treika was kept quite in the first half and in the initial stages of the second half but it only took one moment of brilliance from the loanee from Al-Ahly to make an impact. His attempt at goal smashed into the bar and within a minute, Haboush Saleh’s low-slung attempt fidgeted through to Senghor in the 6-yard box who couldn’t miss from that range.

Though Abou-Treika has clearly stated his intention to return to Al-Ahly after his six-month stint is over, he had been committed to raising the prospects of the club to make it to next year’s AFC Champions League. With two goals from six games, compared to three from nine games by the person he replaced – his compatriot Mohamed Zidan, Abou-Treika has undoubtedly helped Bani Yas climb up the table to the third position in the UAE Pro League along with raising the attendance levels from a minimalist perspective.

With the final two nail-biting fixtures against Sheikh Mansour’s Al Jazira and Dubai based Al Wasl coming up, only time will tell if Abou-Treika can close his chapter on his UAE experience on a positive note.

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In the meantime, enjoy this solo effort from Abou-Treika that secured Bani Yas’ progression to the final.

The 19-year-old Egypt international centre-back is being targeted by Premier League champions Manchester United and European champions Chelsea, according to Sky Sports, but the player took to Twitter to announce his main objective is to recover from injury in time for this summer’s U-20 World Cup in Turkey.

“I’m talking with some people over some offers, but everything will be opened after the World Cup. Just pray for me to be able to play in the World Cup,” Rabia tweeted in Arabic.

Borussia Dortmund, Schalke and Lille are also interested in Rabia, but the latter are the only club who’ve made a formal offer thus far.

French side Lille requested to have him on trial, but unfortunately Rami had suffered a knee injury during Ahly’s league win over Smouha and had to undergo surgery earlier this month.

SEM spokesman Mamdouh Eid confirmed to KingFut.com: “There is interest from many clubs, but at the moment we are looking forward to the [Under-20] World Cup and we’ll see from there.”

On the previous offer from Lille, Mamdouh added: “Lille wanted him on trial… they can watch him at the [U-20] World Cup.”

Rabia, who made his Al-Ahly debut at just 17, has recently thrived as a defensive midfielder since captain Hossam Ghaly picked up an ACL injury during the Club World Cup in Japan.

The versatile defender has scored four goals for both club and country in all competitions so far this season, including goals for Al-Ahly in the CAF Super Cup and Egyptian Premier League, the senior national team’s lone goal in their 3-1 friendly loss to Qatar, where he played at right-back, and the winner against African Youth Championship hosts Algeria to book the Young Pharaohs’ progression to this summer’s U-20 World Cup.

The Ahly starlet, who turns 20 next week, already has five full caps for Egypt and also captained the U-20 side that went on to win the African Championship for the first time since 2003.

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Egypt international Adam El-Abd, who has yet to put pen-to-paper, was offered a new one-year contract at Brighton & Hove Albion on Thursday, as his current contract is set to expire in June 2013.

Last week, El-Abd’s Brighton were eliminated from the Championship play-offs following a 2-0 loss at home to rivals Crystal Palace, ending their hopes of achieving promotion to the Barclay’s Premier League this season.

The first of the two legs was held at Crystal Palace’s Selhurst Park where a 0-0 draw was played out. Brighton were the better of the two sides but the Seagulls failed to take their chances to put the game to bed.

The Seagulls then hosted Crystal Palace at the AMEX stadium as favourites with their home crowd cheering them on, and since the away goal rule was not to be used, it was all in Brighton’s hands. However, two second half goals from Manchester United-bound Wilfred Zaha sends Crystal Palace to Wembley to face Watford in the play-off final on May 27.

Adam El-Abd was an unused substitute for both of the games, despite playing a crucial role at centre-back during the majority of the season for Brighton.

To add to Brighton’s woes, manager Gus Poyet has been suspended along with two members of his coaching staff after he publicly made comments about the club’s ambitions and his future at the club.

28-year-old Adam is expected to feature in Egypt’s World Cup qualifers next month against Zimbabwe and Mozambique.

Egypt secured maximum nine points from their first three games, which keeps them on track to qualify for the final round of World Cup qualifying, where they will play a two-legged encounter against one of the 10 groups’ leaders for a place at next year’s finals in Brazil.

Ahmad Yousef: Follow @EgyptianPlayers

At 30 years old, it’s now or never for Mido to make a comeback. It appears he’s choosing now.

One of Egypt’s most accomplished football exports has taken to Twitter to announce his plans to get back into shape. Ahmed Hossam, more affectionately known as Mido, recently posted several tweets about his new diet, which includes everything from fresh fruits and salads, to grilled chicken and fish.

Mido has officially been without a club since January 31 of this year, but hinted at resuming some light training later this month. I tweeted him back days later to wish him well and he confirmed to me that he’ll begin the physical part of his regimen “next week.” While he hasn’t specifically mentioned a return to football, one can infer from his drive to be fit that, that might be one of his goals.

He’s sarcastically been using the hashtag ‘Kersh Mido’ with each diet-related post. Critical fans previously used it to make fun of his weight on Twitter. It roughly translates to “Mido’s belly” or “Mido’s paunch.” It might as well translate to “Mido’s motivation” judging by his constructive use.

Mido hasn’t completely been idle since January. He’s dabbled in some TV show hosting, including “El Aalamy,” currently airing in its second season on Al-Hayat 2, and “Digital Mido,” found on Egyptian football portal FilGoal. Though he seems comfortable in front of the camera and appears set for a long TV career when he decides to hang-up his boots, at just 30 years old, the potential is there for a few more years of scoring goals first.

With Egypt off to a perfect start in 2014 World Cup qualifying, next summer’s finals in Brazil may be his last chance to check FIFA’s showpiece event off of his list of career achievements. In fact, Mido recently interviewed Egyptian national team boss Bob Bradley for his TV show. The two seemed to strike a repoire, and Mido seems to have plenty of respect for the former U.S. national team manager, telling me via Twitter that he thought the American was a “top man.” Perhaps some of the off-camera conversation offered a bit of incentive as well? To be a fly on that wall…

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