Egypt manager Carlos Queiroz has named the nine foreign-based players that will join the Pharaohs squad for their double-header against Senegal in the World Cup qualifiers.
Having qualified from their group unbeaten, The Pharaohs will be aiming to secure their second World Cup qualification in a row when they face Senegal in the play-offs.
The first leg is scheduled to be played in Cairo on the 25th of March at 5:00 PM CLT, while the second leg will take place four days later at 5:00 PM CLT on the 29th of the same month.
While Egypt set to enter the game without the services of Ahmed Hegazi and Akram Tawfik who were both injured during the AFCON, Queiroz decided to call up new names that didn’t make it in the squad in Cameroon.
The Portuguese coach took to Twitter to reveal the name of the foreign-based players that will join the national team camp for the Senegal games and it witnessed the surprise call-up of Karim Hafez.
The 25-year-old left-back hasn’t featured for the national team since March of 2019 when the Pharaohs were held to a 1-1 away draw by Niger in the last game of the 2019 AFCON qualifiers under former manager Javier Aguirre.
Hafez currently plies his trade at Turkish Super Lig outfit Yeni Malatyaspor, making 25 appearances this season for the team that currently sits bottom of the league table.
Three other names will be arriving from Turkey alongside Hafez, namely Mostafa Mostafa Mohamed, who was Egypt’s number one target man at the previous AFCON, Ahmed Hassan Kouka of Konyaspor, and Al Ahly loanee at Altay SK, Ahmed Yasser Rayan.
While Mostafa managed to score just seven goals in 33 games this season, the pressure will be on, who is currently leading the scoring charts for Konyaspor with eight goals.
Kouka’s only appearance under Carlos Queiroz came as a last-minute substitute in the Portuguese’s first official game in charge against Libya.
Al Tawwoun’s Mostafa Fathi has also made the list after his spectacular displays in Saudi Arabia in the recent period, while the rest of the list saw the regular names of Mohamed Salah, Mohamed Elneny, Mahmoud Hassan Trezeguet, and Omar Marmoush.
On the other hand, the most notable names to have failed to make the list are Mahmoud Kahraba, Sam Morsy, and Amr Warda.
