There’s been much fervor over the Egyptian national team technical staff’s decision to exclude Mido from the 28-man squad (which will be trimmed to 23) for Egypt’s matches against Oman (friendly) Algeria (crucial World Cup qualifier) and the Confederations Cup. Many fans are especially worried given regular starter Emad Meteb’s injury and the recent spate of injuries that Mido’s Wigan teammate Amr Zaki has faced.
Personally, I don’t think any of us are in any position to definitively declare the decision to exclude Mido the wrong one. We have no idea what goes on behind the scenes or who said/did what. What I do know is this…. I completely understand the decision and have no qualms about it.
My guess is, like any reasonable technical staff, Hassan Shehata and/or Shawqy Ghareib spoke with key members of the team to get their opinion about including Mido for this feverish coming period. We have no idea what the likes of Wael Gomaa, Mohammed Abou Treika, Ahmed Hassan, etc. may have said behind closed doors in discussions with the technical staff.
Many fans are pinning the decision solely on Shehata’s shoulders. Everybody seems to attribute all blame and all success to Shehata. There is an entire staff of coaches and trainers, led of course by Shehata and Ghareib, that are wholly responsible for any successes or failures. If Shehata did everything unilaterally he wouldn’t have these individuals there to assist him.
The coaches say the decision to exclude him was purely “technical.” There is no evidence that Mido got into any disputes with coaches or players recently that were a direct fault of his own (considering the spat with Zaki may not have been Mido’s fault; though his taking it to the media is a different story). Attributing his exclusion to “technical reasons” is the right thing to do, and I’m glad the technical staff came out and gave some explanation.
The crowd in Blida will be raucous enough as it is, considering it’s a regional derby, Egypt is currently African champion, and of course… it’s World Cup qualifying. Add to that the fact that many Algerian fans dislike Mido in particular and Mido’s issues with past nonsensical behavior and temper tantrums, and it might be a bad choice to play him, even if he was included.
It’s no coincidence that Mido is always switching teams at the club level. If players could switch nationalities he probably wouldn’t be playing for the Pharaohs right now.
Some very capable strikers were called up to the team. The main thing they lack versus Mido is international experience, admittedly a very important element that cannot be replaced. I like the selections of Ahmed Raouf and Ahmed Abdel Ghany (who is a big, powerful frontman in the mold of Mido and Zaki), but I would have liked to see U-21 national team star and new Ahly signing Mohammed Talaat given a call-up.
Years of having discipline issues on the national team and we finally have a managerial staff that gets it… understands that character is the number one most vital component to any winning team. And yet, so many still haven’t learned and in fact complain when they exclude someone that has been a behavioral nightmare anywhere he’s been.
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