OPINION: 5 Egyptian players that will be disappointed to miss out on AFCON squad inclusion

As the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations draws closer, KingFut’s Omar Morsy takes a look at five players that might have expected to make the Egypt squad, but failed to make the final cut for Egypt manager Javier Aguirre.

Four weeks ago, Egypt manager Javier named a provisional 25-man squad for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations, knowing full well that two players would have to be excluded in the coming weeks to finalize the roster. The squad was indeed finalized last week, with Aguirre dropping Smouha SC duo Mohamed Abou-Gabal and Ahmed Aboul-Fotouh; the goalkeeper and left-back will instead be watching the tournament as spectators.

The 2019 AFCON is being hosted by Egypt after CAF withdrew hosting rights from Cameroon in November of last year, before choosing the Pharaohs as hosts less than two months later. The tournament kicks off on Friday at the Cairo International Stadium as Egypt host Zimbabwe. Egypt last hosted the AFCON in 2006, when they won the first of three consecutive titles before the run ended in 2010.

Scroll through the tabs to see the players we think will feel hard done by after their exclusion from the squad: