CAIRO: Coach Hassan Shehata said Mido still had the chance to earn an Egypt call up ahead of next month s FIFA Confederations Cup.
The Wigan Athletic on-loan striker was surprisingly left out of the Pharaohs squad for the crunch World Cup qualifier against Algeria on June 7.
Reports said that he would also miss out on the Confederations Cup but Shehata, who led Egypt to back-to-back Nations Cup titles, does not agree.
Mido could be with us in South Africa, Shehata told Oman TV following Egypt s 1-0 friendly victory over the Arabian Gulf side on Saturday.
The 59-year-old boss also disregarded rumors saying that Mido s omission was a result of a feud between both men.
There are no problems whatsoever. I was just thinking about selecting new faces who are not familiar to Algeria, he said.
But whenever a big-name player is dropped, Egyptian people and media start talking about alleged problems, he added.
Egypt s injured striker Emad Meteb has been already ruled out of the Confederations Cup, which kicks off June 14.
The African champions will face Brazil, Italy and the United States in Group B of the tournament.
