“I was sad” Mohamed Sherif opens up on Egypt snub
The Al Ahly striker was surprisingly omitted from the Egypt squad by Carlos Queiroz.
Mohamed Sherif won the Egyptian Premier League’s Golden Boot last season by scoring 20 goals for
Al Ahly. The 25-year-old is considered among the best Egyptian strikers, establishing himself as a regular starter for the Egypt national team.
However, Sherif was surprisingly excluded from the Pharaohs’ squad for their World Cup qualifiers in October. The striker says the decision has motivated him to work harder for his place in the national team.
“Of course, I was sad like any player after being excluded from the national team for the first time, but it is the technical staff’s decision and I accepted their point of view. It pushed me to work more until I came back,”
Sherif told
Al-Nahar TV.
“I knew I was excluded from social media, and Wael Gomaa [national team’s technical director] spoke to me and told me that I was a good player and my exclusion didn’t mean anything.”
The Al Ahly striker kept delivering for the Red Devils until he returned to the national team squad last month.
Asked about his relationship with
Mohamed Salah, Sherif responded:
“We [him and Salah] have a good relationship, and he sits with everyone in the national team and doesn’t make us feel that he is a star in Liverpool.”
In the early stages of his work as the Al Ahly manager,
Pitso Mosimane
benched Sherif for Congolese striker Walter Bwalaya.
“There are a lot of excellent strikers in the Egyptian league, in every club you will find a good player in that plays in this position,"
he added.
“Of course, I was sad when I sat on the bench when Walter Bwalya was playing. I was mentally affected by only participating in the Club World Cup for a few minutes, but I didn’t speak with the coach and focused more on training until I got the opportunity.
“I don’t know his [Mosimane] intentions, and certainly every coach has his convictions, but I think any coach will play someone who helps him win.”
There were reports about Sherif having a spat with
Hussein El-Shahat
. When asked about the incident, the striker responded:
“It never happened. There was a previous argument, but it was between me and Mohamed Hany, and it was just a small disagreement on the pitch,”
he explained.
“Any Al Ahly players who makes mistakes will be punished.”
Al Ahly are leading the Premier League table with 18 points from their six matches. The Cairo club will face Pharco in their next league game on December 20.
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