Middlesbrough striker Ahmed Hossam 'Mido' has returned to the Egypt national team squad to face Burundi in the 2006 African Nations Cup qualifier on September 9th. Egypt coach Hassan Shehata prematurely announced the names of several foreign-based players, among which the 24-year old was recalled after a long period out. Mido, who has recently joined Boro, scoring on his debut for the Yorkshire club, seemed to have regained his scoring touch and so was rewarded with a call-up to Egypt roster. Anderlecht's Ahmed Hassan, Hamburg's Mohamed Zidan, Strasbourg's Ahmed Abou-Mosallam, Ankaragucu's Ibrahim Saied and Feyenoord's Sherif Ekramy also join the European-based list to join in the Pharaohs squad. However, the names of Sheffield United defender Ahmed Fathi and Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Hossam Ghaly were missing, as well as Turkish-based trio Abdul-Zaher Al-Saqqa, Mohamed Abdullah and Ayman Abdul-Aziz. Egypt are top of Group 2 of the African qualifiers with eight points, one point above Botswana and two points ahead of Burundi.
