Zamalek did little to quell doubts over Shikabala's commitment to the Egyptian national team after declaring that he would be fit for Sunday's Premier League game at home to Masri. The in-form forward was ruled out of Egypt's midweek friendly against Australia after Zamalek said that he injured his back in the team's 3-2 league victory over Ismaili. Widespread reports suggested that he deliberately missed out on the game despite Zamalek's insistence that he was not fit to play. Egypt coach Hassan Shehata hit out at Shikabala and accused him of feigning injury for the second time in the space of two months. Zamalek further raised doubts about his commitment to Egypt after saying that he shrugged off the back complaint in time to feature in the Masri match, which comes four days after the Pharaohs crushed Australia 3-0 at Cairo Stadium. "Shikabala came through today's training session unscathed," Zamalek doctor Mostafa Al-Monayeri, whose medical report about the 24-year-old's condition was accepted by Shehata, told FilGoal.com on Friday. "We wanted to be sure whether he can play against Masri. His participation in training showed that he can play." Shikabala, a talented but temperamental deep-lying forward, playmaker and winger, made an impressive start to the season after failing to seal a move to Belgian giants Anderlecht in the close season. He is the team's top scorer with five league goals which include superb strikes against Petrojet and Ismaili. Shikabala was part of Egypt's squad for their triumphant African Cup of Nations campaign last January but made only one appearance in the tournament. Shehata recently criticized the former PAOK man for being 'too passive when losing the ball'.
