CAIRO: Egypt coach Hassan Shehata has decided to exclude Mohamed Zidan from the national team s squad until further notice, following the player’s recent indiscipline.
Zidan failed to show up for Egypt s friendly against Guinea last week and didn’t answer Shehata s phone calls after skipping the game.
The Borussia Dortmund striker was later declared unfit by his club; however, he took part in the 4-1 Bundesliga defeat to Hamburg on the weekend.
I am very upset with Zidan. He showed disrespect to his team by skipping the Guinea game without permission, Shehata told El-Faraeen TV.
He also didn’t answer any of our phone calls, he didn’t respect us, so we won t respect him and therefore we won t recall him again.
It is the third time that Zidan skips an international game without permission. I was also angered to see him play for his club, which means he isn’t injured.
While ruling out one striker, Shehata left room for another as he said that Ahmed “Mido Hossam has a fine chance of returning to the Egypt squad if he played regularly for Zamalek.
There is nothing personal with Mido. He was left out of recent games because he was unfit and had some injury problems, added the Zamalek legend.
If he got regular football with Zamalek, Mido will surely have a place in the national team.
He just needs to improve his image with the fans inside the pitch and outside. He needs a new look.
Mido has been involved in some ups and downs with Shehata since his infamous tantrum in the 2006 African Cup of Nations in Egypt.
The on-loan Middlesbrough striker has hardly impressed for the African champions during Shehata s ongoing five-year reign.
