The Egyptian national team is preparing for its final training session ahead of facing South Sudan in the second round of the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers at Juba Stadium.
The Pharaohs hope to secure an away victory to compensate for the goalless draw suffered by Hossam Hassan's men in their first qualifier match against Angola at Cairo International Stadium.
Egypt's match against South Sudan will take place at Juba Stadium in the southern capital at 3:00 PM tomorrow, Tuesday.
South Sudan lost their opening round match away from home 2-1 to Malawi, enabling the latter to top Group Two ahead of the second-round fixtures, where they will face Angola aiming to maintain their lead. Meanwhile, the Pharaohs aspire to achieve a different result that grants them the upper hand before resuming the qualifiers.
The top two teams from the group will qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations finals, scheduled to be held next year across three countries: Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania.
Marwan Attia Returns
Midfielder Marwan Attia returns to the Egyptian national team after completing his two-match suspension imposed by the Confederation of African Football (CAF).
Attia received the suspension following the semifinal match against Senegal in the Africa Cup of Nations held in Morocco. He missed two games: the bronze medal match against Nigeria and the first qualifier against Angola.
Hossam Hassan can now include Marwan Attia in his plans for the second qualifier match.
Tartan Surface Excludes Two Professionals
Egypt's captain Mohamed Salah will miss the South Sudan match due to his inability to play on artificial turf ("tartan"), a issue that has recurred several times previously.
Before traveling to South Sudan, Hossam Hassan decided to call up Osama Faisal, a striker from Al Ahly Bank, to compensate for Mohamed Salah's absence from the team camp.
The second professional player missing the match is Mohamed Abdelmonem, who also faces issues with the artificial turf due to a previous cruciate ligament surgery.
Ibrahim Hassan, manager of the Egyptian national team, confirmed that Mohamed Abdelmonem was excluded from the traveling squad to South Sudan due to his prior cruciate ligament operation and medical warnings against playing at Juba Stadium, based on the medical report from his French club, Nice.
23 Players in the Egyptian Delegation
Twenty-three players participated in Egypt's final training session before traveling to Juba to compete in the second qualifier match.
The squad traveling to South Sudan consists of: Mostafa Shobeir, El Mehdi Soliman, Mohamed Alaa, Abdelaziz Belhouti, Mohamed Hany, Tarek Alaa, Rami Rabia, Hossam Abdelmaged, Omar Fayez, Ahmed Fatouh, Karim Hafez, Marwan Attia, Mohannad Lashin, Mahmoud Saber, Emam Ashour, Ahmed Sayed Zizo, Ali Mahmoud, Ibrahim Adel, Mostafa Zeiko, Haitham Hassan, Omar Marmoush, Osama Faisal, and Hamza Abdelkarim.
