Photo: EFA
Egypt national team manager Héctor Cúper has named the 15 local players who will join the team’s training camp on Thursday, August 24.
The Argentine has called up earlier 15-foreign based for Egypt’s two crucial fixtures against Uganda in the 2018 World Cup qualifiers and today he has announced the local players who will be joining them.
The Pharaohs will face Uganda on August 31 in Kampala before hosting them at Alexandria’s Borg El-Arab Stadium on September 5.
Egypt currently top the group with six points, two points above second-placed Uganda, while Ghana sit third with only one point and Congo languish at the bottom of the group with 0 points.
Cúper decided to exclude Amr Warda after calling him up last week and add Amr Gamal to the squad instead of him. He has also rewarded Saleh Gomaa for his superb club form with a national team call-up.
Gomaa has been in excellent form for Al Ahly recently, scoring seven goals in his club’s last seven domestic games. His club teammates Hossam Ashour and Ahmed El-Sheikh have managed to keep their place in the squad.
Meanwhile Smouha’s Hossam Hassan, Ismaily’s Mohamed Fathi and Mohamed Awaad and Al Ahly’s new signing Ayman Ashraf have been handed a surprise call-ups to the national team after impressing against Morocco in the CHAN qualifiers.
Among the names to miss out are Bassem Morsi, Amr Warda, Walid Soliman, Momen Zakaria, Alexander Jakobsen, Ibrahim Salah and Amr El-Sulaya.
Full squad:
Goalkeepers: Ahmed El-Shennawy (Zamalek), Essam El-Hadary (Wadi Degla), Sherif Ekramy (Al Ahly), Mohamed Awaad (Ismaily).
Defenders: Ahmed Fathi (Al Ahly), Saad Samir (Al Ahly), Rami Rabia (Al Ahly), Ayman Ashraf (Al Ahly), Ali Gabr (Zamalek), Ahmed Hegazy (West Brom), Mohamed Abdel-Shafy (Al Ahli), Karim Hafez (RC Lens), Ahmed Elmohamady (Aston Villa), Omar Gaber (FC Basel).
Midfielders: Tarek Hamed (Zamalek), Mostafa Fathi (Al Taawoun), Abdallah El-Said (Al Ahly), Hossam Ashour (Al Ahly), Ahmed El-Sheikh (ِAl Ahly), Saleh Gomaa (Al Ahly), Mohamed Elneny (Arsenal), Ramadan Sobhi (Stoke City), Sam Morsy (Wigan Athletic), Mohamed Fathi (Ismaily), Mahmoud Trezeguet (Kasımpaşa).
Forwards: Mahmoud Kahraba (Ittihad Jeddah), Amr Gamal (Bidvest Wits), Mohamed Salah (Liverpool), Hossam Hassan (Smouha), Ahmed Hassan Koka (Sporting Braga).
