CAIRO: Playmaker Mohamed Abou-Trika is unlikely to start Egypt s World Cup qualifier at Rwanda on Saturday.
The Pharaohs medical team said that the Ahly man, who underwent scans on Thursday after sustaining a knee injury, might not be able to play the full 90 minutes.
Abou-Treika s club teammate Mohamed Barakat, who is also doubtful for the game after suffering a pelvic problem, is nearing full recovery ahead of the anticipated encounter.
Both men are scheduled to take further fitness tests on Friday to determine whether they can take part in the Group C clash.
Egypt coach Hassan Shehata will be keeping his fingers crossed for the influential duo after seeing several of his regulars ruled out of the match.
Strike duo Amr Zaki and Emad Meteb are unavailable through injury, while Mohamed Zidan was excluded as a disciplinary action for missing last month s friendly with Guinea.
Zamalek frontman Ahmed “Mido Hossam was also left out of the squad due to lack of match fitness.
Egypt s squad boasts several inexperienced strikers, including ENPPI s Ahmed Raouf and Petrojet s Al-Sayed Hamdi.
The African champions lie second in their group with four points, three behind leaders Algeria with three matches to go.
Any stumble for Egypt against Rwanda, Zambia or Algeria in their remaining games will seriously diminish their chances of reaching the World Cup for the first time since 1990.
Only the group winners will book a place in South Africa finals.
