CAIRO - Egypt's coach Hassan Shehata Saturday included Zamalek's Shikabala in Egypt's squad, although the player has announced his retirement from international football, the Egyptian Gazette has learnt. Hassan revealed the list as the Pharaohs prepare for the Nile Basin States tournament, which starts in Cairo on Wednesday. Egypt will encounter Tanzania in the opener on Wednesday, before taking on Kenya three days later. They will also face Uganda on January 14 and will wrap up the tournament against Sudan on January 17. The tournament is very important as it can – according to political and sports analysts – ease tensions between Egypt and several of its neighbours over the Nile River saga. Upstream Nile Basin countries – including the likes of Ethiopia, Kenya and Rwanda – are at odds with Egypt over the distribution of Nile waters. Egypt enjoys the lion's share of the Nile water with 55.5 billion cubic metres a year. Shehata's men will be looking to make the most of the tournament after some disappointing performances of late. The African champions were held to a 1-1 draw at home to Sierra Leone, before suffering a stunning 1-0 defeat at tiny Niger in their first two games of the 2012 African Nations Cup qualifiers. They then gave their fans something to cheer about by crushing Australia 3-0 last month in a friendly last month, but could not build on that convincing win, slumping to a surprise 2-1 at Qatar shortly after that Shikabala decided to retire from international football after being taunted in the Cairo derby, said Zamalek's football director Ibrahim Hassan. Several media reports have suggested of late that the Zamalek forward has been considering ending his short international career. He played down the allegations over a month ago, but Hassan stressed the 24-year-old ace has already hung up his international boots. "He has sent a formal letter to the Egyptian Football Association [EFA] to inform it of his decision," Hassan told Modern TV late on Friday. "Actually, he made up his mind a month ago. I tried more than once to talk him out of it, but in vain." Shika has got involved in many verbal exchanges with fans from both Ahly and Zamalek alike throughout his career. He was spotted holding one of his shoes aloft, teasing the Red Devils' fans after the goalless draw in the Egyptian Premier League on Thursday. He's widely expected to be sanctioned for his inappropriate behaviour. The unpleasant post-match incident was the straw the broke the camel's back, according to Hassan. "Shikabala is fed up with the boos and jeers. The fans of Ahly and Zamalek are the fans of Egypt after all, so he doesn't want to play for his country anymore," Hassan explained. "Neither the media nor the EFA have supported him over the past few weeks. The national team officials have ignored him as well. "He's been under a lot of pressure. I hope Egypt's technical staff can do something to make him backtrack on his decision. It's such a waste; he's the future of Egyptian football." Egypt coach Hassan Shehata has hit out at the former PAOK man on more than one occasion, accusing him of feigning injury and neglecting his international duty.
