CAIRO: Harras Hodoud forward Ahmed Eid pledged not to lose his temper on the pitch again, in the wake of his omission from Egypt’s squad for next week’s 2012 African Cup of Nations qualifier against Sierra Leone.
Over a week ago, the 30-year-old was handed a four-match ban and LE 5,000 fine for misconduct in a 2-2 draw with Smouha.
He pushed the referee’s hand when he was about to raise a caution for him in the second half of the Egyptian Premier League match, causing the yellow card to fly away.
His inappropriate reaction as well as angry shouts caused the referee to send him off. Apart from the sanction, Eid was excluded by coach Hassan Shehata from Egypt’s squad.
"I told Eid many times that he’s a very good player but he needs to stop protesting against refereeing," Shehata said.
"How can I include a player who was punished for misbehaving? That would be against my principles."
Composure
Eid made an apology to Shehata and vowed to control himself during matches.
"Shehata had every right not to name me in the squad," he told FilGoal.com. "I was really sad but that made me willing to change.
"I’m sorry for what I did and I promise that I will never lose my Composure again."
Eid is renowned for his short fuse, which saw him red carded so many times in the past few years.