Egypt's national football squad has been announced, as has its upcoming matches The 28-man team list was released last week on the official web site of the Egyptian Football Association (EFA). The team will play a friendly against Oman on 30 May in Oman following a five-day training camp in the Sin the World Cup qualifier against Algeria in Algiers on 7 June, after which comes the FIFA Confederations Cup in South Africa from 14 to 28 June. Another World Cup qualifier is against Rwanda in Cairo on 5 July, Inas Mazhar reports. Surprisingly, Wigan striker Ahmed 'Mido' Hossam was left out of the list. "The reasons are technical, that's it," said Shawki Gharieb, Egypt's assistant coach. Rumours have swirled linking the absence of Mido to his abrasive relationship with the technical staff and his teammates. But there is no doubt that the Egyptian forward's form has dropped of late. One newspaper described Mido's performance against Zambia at the start of the World Cup qualifiers as that of a "public relations officer." Mohamed Barakat, Ahli's star midfielder and one of their top scorers, was also absent from the list because of injury, the same situation as Saudi Arabia-based Emad Meteb. The team was scheduled to leave for Oman on Tuesday. Goalkeepers: Essam El-Hadari (Sion), Abdel-Wahed El-Sayed (Zamalek), Mohamed Sobhi (Ismaili), El-Hani Suleiman (Ittihad Alexandria) Defenders: Hani Said (Zamalek), Mahmoud Fathallah (Zamalek), Wa'el Gomaa (Ahli), Sherif Abdel-Fadhil (Ismaili), Ahmed Said (Haras El-Hedoud), Ahmed El-Muhammadi (Enppi), Sayed Moawad (Ahli), Hazem Emam (Zamalek), Ahmed Samir Farag (Ismaili) Midfielders: Ahmed Fathi (Ahli), Mohamed Shawki (Middlesbrough), Hosni Abd Rabu (Al Ahli Dubai), Ahmed Khairi (Ismaili), Mohamed Suleiman (Ismaili), Abdel-Aziz Tawfiq (Enppi), Ahmed Hassan (Ahli), Mohamed Abu Treika (Ahli) Forwards: Ahmed Eid (Haras El-Hedoud), Mohamed Zidan (Boroussia Dortmund), Mohamed Abou Greisha (Ismaili), Ahmed Abdel-Ghani (Haras El-Hedoud), Ahmed Raouf (Enppi), Ehab El-Masri (Arab Contractors), Amr Zaki (Wigan) By Inas Mazhar
