The technical staff of the Egypt’s national football team — led by recently signed coach Ihab Galal — announced the tentative list of the names of professional players abroad in preparation for the training camps for the Guinea and Ethiopia matches in the first and second rounds of the qualifiers for the 2023 African Cup of Nations that are scheduled for 5 and 9 June.
The tentative list of professionals includes Mohamed Salah (Liverpool, England), Mustafa Fathi (Saudi Taawon), Mahmoud Hassan Trezeguet (Turkish Basaksehir), Ahmed Hamdi (Montreal, Canada), Ahmed Hassan Koca (Konya Sport, Turkey), Mohamed Elneny (Arsenal, England), Mustafa Mohamed (Galata Saray, Turkey), Sam Morsi (Ipswich, England), Omar Marmoush (Stuttgart, Germany), Ahmed Yasser Rayan (Altayspor, Turkey), and Karim Hafez (Yeni Maltya, Turkey).
A source for the technical staff of the Pharaohs revealed that Ihab Galal has also settled on the names of the local players who are scheduled to join the next Pharaohs camp.
According to the source, the list includes Al-Ahly’s Mohamed Magdy Afsha, Mohamed Sharif, Amr Al-Sulayya, and Yasser Ibrahim; Zamalek’s Tarek Hamed, Ahmed Al-Sayed Zizou, and Mahmoud Alaa; and Pyramids’ Ramadan Sobhi, Donga, and Omar Gaber.
The source also added that there is a possibility that Pyramids goalkeeper Sherif Ekrami will return to the list of Pharaohs goalkeepers, stressing that the matter has not been finalised yet.
Furthermore, there are some players that Galal has tapped and is waiting for permission from their teams to include them in his squad.
Additionally, the list will witness the return of many names of players who were excluded during Carlos Queiroz’s tenure as coach of the Pharaohs for several reasons, the most important of which is that Galal is a national coach who knows the strength, importance, and weaknesses of the players of Egyptian teams. This is in addition to Galal utilising strategies and formations that are a departure from Queiroz’s methods.
Finally, the source said that Galal has begun developing a training plan for the Pharaohs, their new style of play, and the tactics that he will be drilling them on ahead of the matches.
He has also requested video tapes of Ethiopia and Guinea’s teams to identify their most prominent strengths and weaknesses.
