Roy Vitoria, the coach of the Egyptian national team, addressed questions about the exclusion of Yasser Ibrahim and Abdullah El-Said from the final squad for the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations.
The tournament, set to commence on January 13, 2024, and conclude on February 11 of the same month, will be hosted by Ivory Coast.
During a press conference, Vitoria explained, “The reason for excluding Yasser Ibrahim? For once, I’ll talk about a specific position, and that is the defender’s position.
The decision to exclude Yasser came after studying the playing style of all the defenders. We have very good defenders, including two players over 190 cm tall, such as Osama Jalal and Mohamed Abdel-Moneim.
Ahmed Sami is a player who operates like a Swiss watch, disciplined in everything and performs all roles perfectly.
All the selected players are like Swiss watches.”
Regarding Abdullah El-Said, Vitoria clarified, “I highly appreciate Abdullah El-Said’s readiness to participate as a player.
He remained in consideration until the last moment of selections, but, in the end, I chose another player.”
He continued, “The reason for choosing Abdullah El-Said in the initial list? I appreciate him very much as a football player at the professional level.
When he was in the preliminary list, I did not want to miss any opportunity until the last moment to consider a player with the ability and style I want to rely on.”
Addressing Mohamed Sherif’s exclusion, Vitoria stated, “He is one of the players who stayed with me until the last moment I was thinking about, but my goal was to choose three different attackers.
With the selection of Koka, Mostafa Mohamed, and Kahraba, I know that each of them has a different style.
These are not significant differences, but it’s a personal conviction for me.”
Looking ahead to the Africa Cup of Nations, Vitoria acknowledged the potential for surprises in the tournament.
He emphasized the importance of focusing on the next match against Mozambique and not underestimating any opponent.
Vitoria concluded, “We will travel with a squad of 27 players because injuries of various kinds happen in the Africa Cup of Nations.
I hope we return without any injuries.
The strength of teams lies not only in the group playing the match but also in the unity of the family and the group as a whole, representing the heart of one man to play for the Egyptian national team.”
