Zamalek goalkeeper Mohamed Abdul-Monsef said on Monday that he has received an invitation from Serie A side Lazio for a trial period in March. The international shot-stopper told FilGoal.com that he was set to travel to Italy this week but Zamalek's local and African fixtures forced him to delay the visit. Abdul-Monsef said he got the invitation through an Italian agent and that he will finish paperwork during the next few days. All Italian football activates were halted indefinitely after the death of a police officer last week during crowd riots that took place as Catania hosted arch-rivals Palermo in the Sicilian derby. The 30-year-old goalie has been dropped from the Egyptian national team squad for Sweden friendly on Wednesday as a part of CAF celebrations of its 50th anniversary. Abdul-Monsef said he was disappointed to be overlooked for the game especially as he played Egypt's last competitive game against Botswana in the qualifiers for the African Cup of Nations 2008.
He admitted that he was dropped because of going down the pecking order at Zamalek but said he wished that the national team boss would have backed him. "I was a starter with Zamalek through the past year and I wanted to go to Lazio straight from the national team camp," Abdul-Monsef said. "Their interest in me came initially because of my international profile." Abdul-Monsef earned his first international cap under former manager Mahmoud Al-Gohari in 1999, the same year he signed for Zamalek from Dina Farms. He has been a regular member of the national team ever since and won the African Cup of Nations in 2006 on home soil. Lazio are fourth in the Serie A table with 30 points, virtually with no hope of winning the title but still can clinch a Champions League spot next season. Egyptian stars Hazem Emam, Ahmed Hossam 'Mido' and Hani Saied had spells with Italian sides over the past ten years.
