Rui Vitoria, coach of the Egyptian national team, announced in a press conference the final list of the Pharaohs that will compete in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, scheduled to be held in Côte d'Ivoire.
The Portuguese coach had announced an initial list that included 55 names, before reducing it to the final list with only 27 players.
The biggest surprise that Vitoria presented in its list was the exclusion of Al-Ahly duo Hussein Al-Shahat and Yasser Ibrahim, despite their great brilliance with the Red Giant recently.
Despite the presence of Abdullah Al-Saeed's name on the initial list and talk of his willingness to reverse his international retirement decision, Vitoria surprised everyone once again by excluding him from the final list.
The Egyptian national team list for the 2023 African Cup of Nations is as follows:
Goalkeeper: Mohamed El-Shenawy - Ahmed El-Shenawy - Mohamed Abu Jabal - Mohamed Sobhi
Defense: Ahmed Hegazy - Mohamed Abdel Moneim - Ali Gabr - Osama Galal - Ahmed Sami - Mohamed Hani - Omar Kamal - Ahmed Fattouh - Mohamed Hamdy
Midfield: Hamdi Fathi - Emam Ashour - Mohamed Elneny - Marwan Attia - Ahmed Sayed “Zizou” - Ahmed Nabil “Koka” Mahmoud Hamada
Attack: Mohamed Salah - Mostafa Fathi - Mahmoud Hassan “Trezeguet” - Omar Marmoush - Mostafa Mohamed - Mahmoud Abdel Moneim “Kahraba” - Ahmed Hassan “Koka”
Among the names that were expected to be present in the African Nations were Sam Morsi, the Ipswich Town player, as well as Mohamed Sharif, Al Khaleej striker, but it seems that Vitoria has decided to continue relying on his “old guard” since his arrival to coach Egypt about a year and a half ago.
It remains to be noted that the Egyptian national team is in the second group, along with Ghana, Mozambique and Cape Verde.
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