England |
| Egypt |
England vs Egypt Live Streams and TV Channels
Setanta Sports Australia | 
Setanta Ireland | 
ITV 1 | 
Fox Soccer Plus | 
FIFA.com |
England vs Egypt Match Preview
England manager Fabio Capello’s selection plans for the upcoming friendly against African champions Egypt on Wednesday hit a few snags over the past couple of weeks.
First the intense scrutiny on England captain and Chelsea defender John Terry over his personal life choices caused Capello to relieve Terry of the England captaincy.
Then England and Chelsea defender Ashley Cole broke his ankle in a game against Everton.
The dressing room’s not big enough for Wayne and Terry
Then England and Manchester City defender Wayne Bridge, whose former partner was the focus of
John Terry’s aforementioned personal life choices, opted to remove himself from consideration for the England squad citing that he could not share a dressing room with a fellow whose personal life choices included acts of hanky panky with a person once very much involved with himself.
Meaning, of course, that he intended never again to share either sponge or shampoo with the aforementioned John Terry.
Then replacement England captain and Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand got injured, thus rendering himself unavailable for the match against Egypt.
Further injuries plague Capello: to England and Liverpool defender Glenn Johnson, and there is now a possibility that Wayne Rooney will be out due to a knock sustained during his substitute performance in the Carling Cup Final on Sunday.
Difficult decisions for Capello
Due to the injury concerns that Capello found himself embroiled in as he was making public his selection for the Egypt friendly, he also found himself in the awkward position of offering an England call-up to Stoke City’s Ryan Shawcross, who just hours earlier had left the Britannia Stadium pitch under a cloud, having seen a red card for a challenge on Arsenal’s Aaron Ramsey that broke the young Welshman’s leg in two places.
Suffice to say that Fabio Capello will be rather glad that this is March in England and not June in South Africa.
Whoever the England boss puts into the defensive line in place of Ashley Cole, that person and his teammates will have to beware of a potent Egypt squad fresh of their third consecutive championship in the African Cup of Nations.
England to pretend Egypt is Algeria
Egypt, who failed to qualify for the World Cup in South Africa, are said to be a team that England manager Fabio Capello hopes will prepare his boys for their upcoming encounter with World Cup Group C opponents Algeria on June 18.
With their success in the African competitions over recent years it’s hard to understand how the Egyptians failed to qualify for World Cup 2010.
The short answer is Algeria, who beat Egypt 1-0 in a tie-breaking playoff in the Word Cup Qualfiers after both countries found themselves with identical records.
Do the Egyptians really play footy like the Algerians?
A run out against a North African side such as Egypt will undoubtedly provide Capello and his men with invaluable learning experience as June approaches. But questions are bound to linger since the Egyptians are reputed to play a more elegant and free-flowing game than the Algerians, whose tactics are said to involve a bit of smash and grab mentality.
The only England-based player among the Pharoes is Amr Zaki of Hull City, although ex-Spurs midfielder Hossam Ghaly has been named to the Egypt squad. The England defenders will have to beware strikers Emad Meteb, Mohamed Zidan and Mohamed Nagy, who goes by the name Geddo.
But its all a little bit of a mystery
Is Egypt really a team that shares a style of play with their North African rivals Algeria? The England squad can only hope so. Capello, however, will be taking no chances. As Wednesday approaches he’ll be doing just what you and I normally do week in and week out during the season: He’ll be setting up his DVR to catch a game while he’s at work. He’ll be recording the Algeria-Serbia game
England squad:
Goalkeepers:
James (Portsmouth), Green (West Ham), Hart (Birmingham),
Defenders:
Brown (Man Utd), Terry (Chelsea), Upson (West Ham), Lescott (Man City), Shawcross (Stoke), Baines (Everton), Warnock (Aston Villa),
Midfielders:
Milner (Aston Villa), Beckham (AC Milan), Walcott (Arsenal), Lampard (Chelsea), Barry (Man City), Gerrard (Liverpool), Carrick (Man Utd), Wright-Phillips (Man City), Downing (Aston Villa),
Forwards:
Heskey (Aston Villa), Defoe (Tottenham), Rooney (Man Utd), Crouch (Tottenham), C Cole (West Ham).
Egypt Squad:
Goalkeepers:
Essam Al-Hadari (Ismaili), Abdul-Wahed Al-Sayed (Zamalek), Mahmoud Aboul-Saoud (Mansoura).
Defenders:
Wael Gomaa, Sayed Moawad, Ahmed Fathi (Ahli), Mahmoud Fathallah, Hani Saied, Mohamed Abdul-Shafi (Zamalek), Moatassem Salem (Ismaili), Ahmed Al-Muhammadi (ENPPI), Abdul-Zaher Al-Saqqa (Eskisehirspor, Turkey).
Midfielders:
Mohamed Abou-Treika, Ahmed Hassan (Ahli), Shikabala (Zamalek), Abdul-Aziz Tawfik (ENPPI), Ahmed Eid (Harras Hodoud), Hosni Abd-Rabou (Ahli, UAE), Hossam Ghaly (Nassr, Saudi Arabia).
Forwards:
Emad Meteb (Ahli), Ahmed Raouf (ENPPI), Al-Sayed Hamdi (Petrojet), Geddo (Ittihad), Mohamed Zidan (Dortmund, Germany), Amr Zaki (Hull City, England).
