The Egypt national team boss has been slammed by an ex-member of the national team’s technical staff.
Africa Cup of Nations winner Mido has crticised Egypt head coach Rui Vitoria’s final squad for the tournament after leaving out a certain Al Ahly star.
The Pharaohs coach opted to omit Al Ahly defender Yasser Ibrahim and instead called up Pyramids FC defender Ahmed Samy for his 27-man squad.
Mido, who won AFCON with Egypt in 2006, had some questions for some of Vitoria’s selections but says he will continue to support the team.
Read: Egypt Boss Told He’s ‘Very Disrespectful’ By Ex-Coach Ahead Of AFCON
“All support to Vitoria and the Egyptian national team in the Africa Cup of Nations, and all support to the players joining the team. However, the squad has a lot of very big question marks,” Mido said, as per KingFut.
“Calling up Mohamed Sobhi, a goalkeeper who hasn’t played with Zamalek for over two months, is not the strongest list for the available Egyptian players now. When you go to AFCON, the future doesn’t matter; the most important thing is to go with the strongest team that can win the title.
“But was it better to call up Sobhi, who hasn’t played for two months? Mahmoud Gad played in the last match against ENPPI and he’s 25 years old, a goalkeeper for the future, shining on the field, and his position needs a player with match fitness.
“I heard one of the officials say that Vitoria is not above evaluation. Every coach has his mistakes; no one is above evaluation, not even Pep Guardiola. I will support the Egyptian national team, but there are many question marks on the list.
“Not calling up Yasser Ibrahim to the national team, in my opinion, is a football crime.
“After the recent Club World Cup, with all due respect to the other names on the lists, except for Ahmed Hegazi and Mohamed Abdelmoneim, Ibrahim should have been called up as a third defender, ahead of Ali Gabr, Ahmed Samy, and Osama Galal.
“I speak in terms of football, with all due respect to the Pyramids trio, Yasser Ibrahim should have been called up ahead of them.
“If any defender gets injured in the AFCON, Yasser Ibrahim should be the first substitute because he has been very good recently. How was he not called up? If you are stubborn, you won’t do that.”
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