CAIRO: Egypt s holding midfielder Hosni Abd-Rabou sounded his dismay with some Emirati reports suggesting that he had pretended to be injured in order to join the Pharaohs training camp.
The Ahly Dubai ace was stretchered off in his club’s 1-1 draw with Sharjah in the UAE League on Saturday after falling down all of a sudden with no challengers in close proximity only after 17 minutes.
Abd-Rabou received brief treatment near the byline and was replaced on 21 minutes. His injury turned out to be a minor ankle problem that will keep him out of action for a around week.
The former Ismaili prodigy was irked when he was accused of faking his injury to refrain from his duties with the Emirati outfit and start preparing for Egypt s crunch World Cup qualifier with Algeria.
It s all arranged. I will be involved in the preparations for the Algeria game, so basically there is no need to fake injuries, Abd-Rabou told Al-Emarat Al-Youm.
My injury was pre-ordained, and I would never stoop to faking injuries.
I wanted to carry on playing (against Sharjah), but the medical staff believed that I should be taken off.
I m a professional footballer, and faking an injury doesn t really go with my ethics and devotion to the club that pay for my services.
Abd-Rabou was spotted while leaving the stadium on crutches shortly after he was substituted.
The 24-year-old is set to travel to Egypt on Monday to start his rehabilitation with the African champions medics.
His negligible injury won t prevent him from featuring against Algeria on Nov. 14, his brother Tarek Abd-Rabou assured beforehand.
