Mohamed El Shenawy ruled out of Egypt camp with injury

Mohamed El Shenawy will miss Egypt’s next training camp after suffering an injury in training with Al Ahly, FilGoal.com understands.

The Al Ahly goalkeeper had returned to the starting line-up for the club’s last two matches, against El Mokawloon El Arab and Abu Qir Fertilizers, as he sought to prepare for a recall to the Egypt squad.

However, the 36-year-old sustained the injury during Al Ahly’s training session several hours before the national team’s squad was due to be assembled. Egypt are preparing for the opening two rounds of the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.

Al Ahly head of medical services Ahmed Gaballah confirmed the nature of El Shenawy’s injury on the club’s official website.

“Mohamed El Shenawy suffered a second-degree strain during Wednesday’s training session and is undergoing a rehabilitation and physiotherapy programme,” Gaballah said.

El Shenawy had made only two appearances since the beginning of the season, featuring against El Mokawloon El Arab in the fourth round and Abu Qir Fertilizers in the fifth round.

Two weeks ago, a source at Al Ahly told FilGoal.com that the club’s coaching staff had decided to restore El Shenawy as the team’s goalkeeper in place of Mostafa Shobeir for the matches against El Mokawloon El Arab and Abu Qir Fertilizers.

The source said the decision was intended to give El Shenawy the opportunity to join Egypt before the Pharaohs’ camp this month.

Mostafa Shobeir had started Al Ahly’s league campaign in matches against Eastern Company, Enppi, ZED and Smouha during the opening three rounds.

El Shenawy then played against El Mokawloon El Arab in round four and Abu Qir Fertilizers in round five, before the league break for the international window.

Egypt’s training camp begins on Thursday. The Pharaohs will face Angola and South Sudan in their first two Africa Cup of Nations qualifying matches, before playing South Africa in a friendly.

The injury means El Shenawy will not be part of the squad for those fixtures, despite having returned to competitive action in Al Ahly’s two most recent games.