Hassan Shehata resigned on Monday as Egypt national team coach after all but failing to qualify for the 2012 African Cup of Nations, Egypt's Football Federation said. The Federation and Shehata are parting ways 'on friendly terms,' Federation spokesperson Azmy Mujahed told the German Press Agency DPA. A fixture of Egyptian football for decades, Shehata quit after the team's goalless draw with South Africa on Sunday night in the African Cup qualifiers. Shehata will not be coaching the Pharaohs in its next two games against Niger and Malawi, Mujahed said. Under Shehata, Egypt's national team won three successive African Cups, in 2006, 2008, and 2010. Egypt last failed to qualify for the continental tournament in 1978. The Pharaohs are currently at the bottom of the Group G table with two points, behind South Africa (eight), Niger (six) and Sierra Leone (five) in the qualifiers for the 2012 African Cup, co-hosted by Gabon and Equatorial Guinea. Shehata's national popularity took a hit earlier this year after he expressed support for former president Hosny Mubarak during widespread protests demanding, and eventually obtaining, Mubarak's resignation.
