In just a few days, Egypt goes head to head with Guinea in their last match in the group stage of the African World Cup qualifiers. The match holds no importance after Egypt already guaranteed the qualification ticket to the final round. In a group that has Mozambique, Guinea, and Zimbabwe, Egypt secured first position by beating all three opponents in the five matches played up till now. Guinea which comes second in the group ranking has no hopes of equaling the 15 points Egypt has, being short five points with one last match to go against Egypt itself. Despite so, the match would be a good chance for Egypt to get back its top strikers in Gedo and Amr Zaki after a very bad strikers-drought period the national team went through. Throughout the group stage attacking midfielders Mohamed Abu Treka and Mohamed Salah led the national team to those five consecutive victories despite the clear absence of decisive strikers due to the injuries of famous attackers like Emad Meteb and Gedo and the professional problems of Zaki. Although Meteb is still out due to his injury, Gedo and Zaki are back to the squad chosen by national team coach Bob Bradley. They join the preparation camp for Guinea's match. Gedo has not set foot in a soccer pitch in nearly four months after his stint in the English championship while being loaned from Ahli to Hull City. Joining the squad, however, does not mean Gedo is fit to play, said the managing director of the national team, Samir Adli. “We know that Gedo is not yet fit to play but we called him for other reasons,” Adli told Filgoal website. According to the managing director, Gedo was called upon to relive the atmosphere of the national team camp as it readies for the two decisive matches of the final round against a team yet to be announced. Zaki, on the other hand, has currently joined Kuwaiti team, Al Salmiya as a free agent after a long period of absence from the soccer fields since he terminated his contract with Enppi and before that Elazığspor of Turkey. The former Zamalek striker has shined with the national team since 2006. He has recently regained some of his spark scoring a goal in Salmiya's 4-0 victory over Yarmouq in the first round of the Kuwaiti league. Gedo and Zaki's return holds the hopes of fans to restore Egypt's strong attacking line. Gedo and Zaki were called among 27 players chosen by Bradley. The squad includes veterans like Wa'el Gomaa, Sayed Mowaad and Treka. It also includes youngsters Rami Rabiaa, Mohamed Salah, and the newest Luzern player Mahmoud Kahraba. The rest of the squad includes: Sherif Ekrami, Mohamed Sobhi, Massad Awad (goalkeepers). Adam Al-Abd, Mohamed Najib, Ahmed Fathi, Ahmed Al-Muhammadi (defense). Hossam Ashour, Mohamed Al-Nenni, Hossam Ghali, Ibrahim Salah, Hosni Abd Rabou, Amr Al- Soleya, Ahmed Hamoudi, and Abdullah Al-Said (midfield). Ahmed Refaat, Walid Suleiman, Ahmed Hassan “Koka” (attack). Players from Zamalek, who just played an African Champions League match on Sunday, are to join the camp as well. The match will be held at Borg El-Arab stadium based on the latest news coming from the Football Federation. The match comes during a very intense period in the country after the overthrow of Mohamed Morsi as president due to massive demonstrations against his rule. It comes during a time when Egypt is fighting terrorism as new government says. However, goalkeeper coach Zaki Abdel-Fattah has expressed his certainty of getting the support of the military and police forces in what he called a “national mission” for the national team. The attendance of spectators at the match, for security reasons, is yet to be determined. Mahmoud Al-Shami, an EFA member, has expressed his wish to have fans in the stands considering tme to be Egypt's lethal weapon in the match. On the other hand, Taher Abu Zeid, the minister of sports, considers the match against Guinea a message to Africa and the world that Egypt is safe and can maintain order and secure the match. On 16 September, just six days after the match, the draw for the final round of the qualifiers will be held. Egypt will await its next opponent whom it will face consecutively in mid-October and mid-November. The winner of these two home and away matches will qualify for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
