Mohamed Salah will not feature in Egypt’s friendly against Tanzania on Thursday as the team continue preparations for the upcoming 2019 Africa Cup of Nations.
The Liverpool forward, 26, joined up with the squad only on Wednesday having been given additional time off following the Uefa Champions League final against Tottenham Hotspur on June 1. Salah scored the opener from the spot in Madrid as Liverpool went on to win 2-0 and seal a sixth European Cup.
Egypt, seven-time Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) champions, have been training since last week as they get set to host the continental showpiece for the first time in 12 years. They take on Tanzania at the Borg El Arab Stadium on Thursday before facing Guinea in another warm-up match this Sunday.
Placed in Group A, the hosts open the tournament against Zimbabwe in Cairo on June 21, then meet DR Congo and Uganda for a place in the knockouts. They last lifted the crown in 2010.
Egypt manager Javier Aguirre confirmed Salah would not be selected against Tanzania, although he did say he could well play a part in Sunday’s friendly.
"For Thursday, definitely not," the former Al Wahda manager told The National. "Mohamed has spent around five or seven days on vacation. But the guy's a professional; he is dedicated, with a lot of motivation. But I'm not considering him.
"Maybe for the second game; maybe the second half, I’ll give him some minutes. But for sure, he will be ready for June 21 and the beginning of the tournament. But not for Tanzania.”
Aguirre announced his final 23-man squad on Tuesday, with Salah headlining a group that features eight overseas-based players. Those include Arsenal midfielder Mohamed Elneny and Aston Villa's Ahmed Elmohamady.
Aguirre said the matches against Tanzania and Guinea represent important tests ahead of next week’s Afcon opener.
“To be honest, yes they are,” he said. “I don’t have many doubts in the starting line-up, but the big problem here is that some players finished their season in Europe for example 25 days go, or three weeks ago. So that I have some concerns regarding that.
“But in these two games I will play with the 23 players - I hope - and in the end I have my starting line-up in my mind. But always you need to have two or three good substitutes, so I’m trying to find out who it’s going to be.”
McIlroy's struggles in 2016/17
European Tour: 6 events, 16 rounds, 5 cuts, 0 wins, 3 top-10s, 4 top-25s, 72,5567 points, ranked 16th
PGA Tour: 8 events, 26 rounds, 6 cuts, 0 wins, 4 top-10s, 5 top-25s, 526 points, ranked 71st
Lexus LX700h specs
Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor
Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh590,000
Volunteers offer workers a lifeline
Community volunteers have swung into action delivering food packages and toiletries to the men.
When provisions are distributed, the men line up in long queues for packets of rice, flour, sugar, salt, pulses, milk, biscuits, shaving kits, soap and telecom cards.
Volunteers from St Mary’s Catholic Church said some workers came to the church to pray for their families and ask for assistance.
Boxes packed with essential food items were distributed to workers in the Dubai Investments Park and Ras Al Khaimah camps last week. Workers at the Sonapur camp asked for Dh1,600 towards their gas bill.
“Especially in this year of tolerance we consider ourselves privileged to be able to lend a helping hand to our needy brothers in the Actco camp," Father Lennie Connully, parish priest of St Mary’s.
Workers spoke of their helplessness, seeing children’s marriages cancelled because of lack of money going home. Others told of their misery of being unable to return home when a parent died.
“More than daily food, they are worried about not sending money home for their family,” said Kusum Dutta, a volunteer who works with the Indian consulate.
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
COPA DEL REY
Semi-final, first leg
Barcelona 1 (Malcom 57')
Real Madrid (Vazquez 6')
Second leg, February 27
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
