Mohamed Salah Left Out of Egypt Squad for Niger

Mohamed Salah will miss Egypt’s final qualifier for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations.

The Liverpool forward has been left out of the Pharaoh’s line-up by the team’s technical staff led by coach Javier Aguirre.

It’s unclear the reasons for the decision to omit the two-time Africa Player of the year but its widely reported the Mexican coach wants to test upcoming youngsters ahead of the Nations Cup in June.

Ahmed Hegazi, Mohamed El-Shennawy, Hussein El-Shahat, Ramadan Sobhi and Marwan Mohsen have also been omitted from the squad.

Olympiacos’ Ahmed Hassan Kouka takes Salah’s place in the squad that will also face Nigeria in an international friendly on March 26 in Lagos.

But the midfield pair of Mohamed Elneny and Mohamed Nabil ‘Dunga’ have both returned to the line-up after being overlooked for the previous AFCON qualifier against Tunisia.

The Pharaohs will take on Niger in their next Africa Cup of Nations qualifier on March 23.

Egypt have already secured qualification to the African competition on the top of being the tournament’s hosts.

They will be hosting the tournament for the fifth time after replacing the original host nation Cameroon who were stripped of staging rights in November citing slow preparations.

Egypt full squad:

Goalkeepers: Mahmoud Gennesh (Zamalek), Mahmoud Abou-Gabal (Smouha), Ahmed El-Shennawy (Pyramids), Amer Amer (Entag El-Harby)

Defenders: Omar Gaber (Pyramids), Mohamed Hany (Al Ahly), Ali Gabr (Pyramids), Mahmoud Alaa (Zamalek), Baher El-Mohamady (Ismaily), Ahmed Ayman Mansour (Pyramids), Karim Hafez (Kasimpasa), Ahmed Aboul-Fotouh (Smouha)

Midfielders: Amr El-Sulaya (Al Ahly), Mohamed Elneny (Arsenal), Tarek Hamed (Zamalek), Ali Ghazal (CD Feirense), Mohamed Nabil ‘Dunga’ (Pyramids)

Strikers: Ahmed Hassan Kouka (Olympiacos), Salah Mohsen (Al Ahly), Mostafa Mohamed (Tala’a El-Gaish)