Egypt's national team is preparing for Thursday's friendly against Qatar, as fierce battles are expected in the midfield. Egypt coach Hassan Shehata is likely to stick to the line-up that prevailed in the 3-0 home victory over Australia last month, with Zamalek's Ibrahim Salah working side by side with ENPPI's Islam Awad in the heart of midfield. Salah, a promising and determined defensive-minded midfielder, will be seeking to cut the supply lines from the likes of Wesam Rizik and Fabio Cesar to striker Sebastian Soria. Awad, who plays as attacking midfielder with Egyptian Premier League side ENPPI, will likely take on the role of creative midfielder. He may be assigned some playmaking duties in addition to the routine task of distributing passes to the right and left flank. Qatari tough-tackling midfielder Talal Al-Baloushi could be the man responsible for keeping the likes of Mohamed Abou-Treika and Ahmed Eid - two creative attacking midfielders - at bay.
