Izuchukwu Okosi
Egypt have named a 40-man provisional squad led by Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon where they will face Nigeria, Sudan and Guinea-Bissau in Group D of the tournament.
The Pharoah over the weekend ended their campaign in the FIFA Arab Cup where they were defeated by hosts Qatar on penalties in the third place final.
The five-time African champions are now shifting their focus to the Africa Cup of Nations, set to kick-off on 9 January in Cameroon with the deadline for the submission of the provisional squads for all participating teams being Monday, 20 December 2021.
Coach Carlos Queiroz has included most of the players that prosecuted the Arab Cup although there were some shock omissions especially that of Zamalek’s defensive midfielder Tarek Hamed who made his debut for the national team in 2015.
Arab Cup star Hussein Faisal also failed to make the cut despite playing four of Egypt’s six games in the competition and winning the Man of the Match award for the Sudan game.
Several players who made their international debuts in the Arab Cup were once called-up including Future FC trio Mohamed Abdelmoneim, Omar Kamal, and Ahmed Refaat, as well as ENPPI’s Marwan Daoud.
Full squad:
Goalkeepers: Mohamed El-Shennawy (Al Ahly), Mohamed Fawzi (Ismaily SC), Mohamed Sobhi (Pharco FC), Mohamed Abogabal (Zamalek), Mahmoud Gad (ENPPI).
Defenders: Ayman Ashraf, Akram Tawfik, Mohamed Hany (Al Ahly); Ahmed Fatouh, Mahmoud Alaa, Mahmoud Hamdy El-Wensh (Zamalek); Mohamed Abdelmoneim, Omar Kamal (Future FC); Ahmed Yassin (Bank Al Ahly); Ahmed Ramadan Beckham (Smouha SC); Mohamed Hamdy (Pyramids FC); Marwan Daoud (ENPPI); Mohamed Fathallah (Ghazl El-Mahalla); Ahmed Hegazi (Ittihad Jeddah).
Midfielders: Amr El-Sulya, Hamdi Fathi, Mohamed Magdy Afsha (Al Ahly); Emam Ashour, Ahmed Sayed Zizo, Mostafa Fathi (Zamalek); Abdallah El-Said, Nabil Emad ‘Dunga’, Ibrahim Adel, Ramadan Sobhi (Pyramids FC); Mohanad Lasheen (Tala’a El-Gaish); Ahmed Refaat (Future FC); Mohamed Elneny (Arsenal).
Forwards: Mohamed Salah (Liverpool); Mostafa Mohamed (Galatasaray); Mahmoud Hassan Trezeguet (Aston Villa); Omar Marmoush (VfB Stuttgart); Ahmed Hassan Kouka (Konyaspor); Ahmed Yasser Rayan (Altay SK); Marwan Hamdi (Smouha); Mohamed Sherif (Al Ahly).
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
In October 2004, Okosi joined Complete Communications Limited, publishers of Complete Sports newspaper and Complete Football magazine as a reporter and later script writer for the Complete Sports studio.
He worked there for 13 years until October 2017.
Okosi also worked various times as Correspondent, Content creator and Editor at Sports Market International Magazine, Opera News, All Nigeria Soccer Media and Iconic Media Watch.
He also undertook freelance writing gigs for some local and international organizations.
Okosi is a member of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), Association of Movie Producers (AMP), Association of Voiceover Artistes of Nigeria (AVOA), Sports Writers Association of Nigeria (SWAN) and Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ).
He has been part of cast in some Nollywood movies and radio dramas including Blood Money 2, Scores To Settle, Dead End 2, Another Campus Tale and Battle Line.
Aside mainstream media and the entertainment industry, he has interests in scouting/unearthing of talents in the sports and creative sectors, exports business and property development.
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