The technical staff of the Egyptian national football team announced the list of players for the matches against Cape Verde and Botswana in the African qualifiers for the next African Cup of Nations in Morocco in 2025, amid the absence of the captain of the English team Ipswich Town, midfielder Sam Morsy.
The list of technical director Hossam Hassan included 27 players in preparation for the camp scheduled to start on August 28, in preparation for the African qualifiers against Cape Verde on September 6 and Botswana on September 10.
The list included 4 professional players in Europe, headed by Liverpool star Mohamed Salah, Eintracht Frankfurt player Omar Marmoush, Nantes striker Mostafa Mohamed, and Trabzonspor midfielder Mahmoud Hassan “Trezeguet”.
The list did not include midfielder Sam Morsy, captain of the English club Ipswich Town, which was promoted this year to the English Premier League, as the Egyptian coach preferred midfielders such as Mohamed Elneny, a player for Al Jazira in the UAE, Hamdi Fathy, a player for Al Wakrah in Qatar, and Al Ahly players Imam Ashour, Marawan Attia, and Ahmed Nabil “Koka”, and Zamalek player Mohamed Shehata.
Hassan included a number of players from the Olympic team that won fourth place in the Paris Olympics last month, such as goalkeeper Hamza Alaa, Ibrahim Adel and Osama Faisal.
Morsi’s non-participation sparked some reactions that expressed surprise at the decision, especially since he is the captain of one of the English Premier League clubs.
One of the users of the “X” platform wrote: “Where is the player Sam Morsy in the choices of the genius coach?? Sam Morsy plays in the English Premier League, the strongest league in the world ever. Hossam Hassan did not like this. Is this reasonable?!”
Another wrote: “Sam Morsi – Omar Kamal?!”
Morsi had spoken to Alhurra website after his team qualified for the most important tournament in English football, last May, about the issue of his return to the Egyptian national team, saying that he “does not know” his future with the Egyptian national team, adding: “I was not called to the last gathering, but we will see what happens later.”
Morsi was first called up to the Egyptian national team in 2016 when Argentine coach Hector Cuper was supervising the training of the Pharaohs.
Morsi, who was playing for the English club Wigan at the time, did not appear as a starter with the Egyptian national team, despite being repeatedly called up until 2023.
Sam Morsy speaks to Alhurra about his feelings after Ipswich’s promotion… and Salah’s influence
The captain of the English team Ipswich Town considered his team’s promotion to the Premier League as a “great achievement”, stressing that the team spirit is the secret behind this qualification.
Ipswich Town played in the opening match of the English season last week against Liverpool and lost 2-0.
The newly promoted club will meet the defending champions Manchester City later on Saturday in the second round of the English championship.
