African Cup of Nations Preview: Egypt

There are now just six days until Ghana face Guinea and the African Cup of Nations gets started, and six more teams to preview. We’ve met Group A, Group B, plus Zambia and Sudan already, so now we continue Group C with Egypt.

The current African Cup of Nations holders have a manager who’s been here, done this and got the winners medal. They’re missing a midfielder who decided losing every week in the Premier League would be more fun (or at least more lucrative) than competing for honours in Ghana, but can still boast possibly the most creative midfield of any team at the tournament. So come on in and meet Egypt.

Nickname: The Pharaohs

Kits: Red shirts, white shorts, black socks (home.) White shirts, black shorts, white socks (away.)

Geography: “Situated at the northeastern corner of Africa, Egypt is bordered on the north by the Mediterranean Sea, in the east by Israel and the Red Sea, in the South by Sudan, and to the west by Libya.” - The Africa Guide

History: Egypt have won the African Cup of Nations five times (1957, ‘59, ‘86, ‘98 and 2006.) Egypt are the current holders after beating Côte d’Ivoire 4-2 on penalties following a 0-0 draw. Shootout drama below…

Manager: Hassan Shehata is a former Egyptian player, who represented The Pharaohs at the 1974, ‘78 and ‘80 tournaments. He won the African Youth Cup of Nations with Egypt in 2003 and was the boss when Egypt won the tournament on home soil in 2006, when his team weren’t fancied to go very far.

FIFA World Ranking (December 2007): Joint 39th with Morocco.

Expectations: As holders, Egypt will be expected to be in the running again. But traveling all the way to Ghana is a lot different from hosting the tournament.

Pros: A nice blend of home and European based players should theoretically give Egypt a nice balance. Captain Ahmed Hassan (pictured) already has two African Cup of Nations winners medals from his six appearances, and was named Player of the Tournament in 2006. He plays in midfield for Anderlecht and can be relied on to have another impressive tournament. Defensive midfielder Mohamed Shawky has recently made the move to Middlesbrough, while Egypt can also boast not one, but two Zidanes. Sort of. Striker Mohamed Zidan has an impressive goalscoring record for both Hamburg in the Bundelsiga and at international level, while El Ahly midfielder Mohamed Aboutreika (see below) has been labeled “the Egyptian Zinedine Zidane.”

Update: Our resident Egypyt expert Tamim knows way more than I about all things Pharaohs, and has pointed out a couple of things. The presence of Essam Al Hadary, arguably the best keeper in Africa, is obviously a big plus for the team. Tamim also picks out 23-year-old midfielder Hosni Abd Rabo of Al-Ismaily as a key presence as well as striker Amr Zaki, who apparently scores goals for fun in the Egyptian league, where he plays for Al-Zamalek.

Cons: Two big Premier League based players are missing, one through circumstance, the other through stupidity. Middlesbrough striker Mido, who as an important part of the victorious 2006 team didn’t recover from injury in time for the tournament, so his presence will definitely be missed. Hossam Ghaly will be less fondly remembered by his teammates after deciding he’d rather complete a loan move to Derby County than play in the African Cup of Nations.

Update: Tamim also points out the the defence is a big cause for concern. Better hope Essam Al Hadary is on his game then.

Player to Watch: It’s impossible to choose between creative midfielders Ahmed Hassan and Mohamed Aboutreika, so I’m not going to. Instead here’s video of both men in action.

First shake in terror at Aboutreika’s deadly accurate set pieces…

…and then be glad you (probably) won’t ever have to try and take the ball off Hassan…

Team Blog? Certainly. Tamim will be following The Pharaohs for us on the Egypt blog.

Fixtures: In Group C with Sudan, Zambia, Cameroon
Egypt vs Cameroon (Kumasi, January 22nd, 17:00)
Egypt vs Sudan (Kumasi, January 26th, 19:30)
Egypt vs Zambia (Kumasi, January 30th, 17:00)

Squad:

Goalkeepers:
Essam al-Hadary (Al-Ahly, Egypt)
Mohamed Moncef (Zamalek, Egypt)
Mohamed Sobhi (Ismailia, Egypt)

Defenders:
Mahmoud Fathallah (Zamalek, Egypt)
Tarek al-Sayed (Zamalek, Egypt)
Sayed Moawad and Hani Saied (Ismailia, Egypt)
Shady Mohamed (Al-Ahly, Egypt)
Ahmed Fathi (Al-Ahly, Egypt)
Wael Gomaa (Al-Siliya, Qatar)
Ibrahim Saied (Ankaragucu, Turkey)
Ahmed al-Muhammadi (ENPPI, Egypt)

Midfielders:
Omar Gamal (Ismailia, Egypt)
Hosni Abd Rabou (Ismailia, Egypt)
Mohamed Aboutraika (Al-Ahly, Egypt)
Ahmed Hassan (Anderlecht, Belgium)
Hassan Mostafa (Al-Wehda, Saudi Arabia)
Mohamed Shawky (Middlesbrough, England)
Ahmed Shaaban (Petrojet, Egypt)

Strikers:
Mohamed Fadl (Ismailia, Egypt)
Emad Moteab (Al-Ahly, Egypt )
Amr Zaki (Zamalek, Egypt)
Mohamed Zidan (Hamburg, Germany)

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