Egypt and Middlesbrough striker Ahmed Hossam ‘Mido’ has been named in Egypt’s provisional 25-man squad ahead of the African Nations Cup qualifier match against Burundi this weekend. Mido who is set to play his first international since February when Egypt meet Burundi in Bujumbura, was recalled to the Egyptian squad after scoring for his new English Premier league club last weekend. Egypt currently leads the Group with 8 points; Botswana is second with seven points while Burundi and Mauritania lie in third and fourth spots with six and four points respectively. The provisional list for the Burundian team includes only two regional professional players (goalkeepers) who feature in the Rwandan national league while the remaining players feature in Burundian national league. They are goal keepers-Aime Ndizeye (APR) and Vladimir Niyonkuru (Rayon Sport). Egypt currently leads the African Nations Cup qualifier Group 2 with 8 points from 4 matches. Botswana is second with seven points from five matches while Burundi falls on third with six points from four matches. Mauritania lies on bottom of the table with four points from five matches. An away win for the Pharaohs will hand the defending champions a place in next January’s African Nations Cup finals in Ghana. Burundi who was supposed to play their fixture against Egypt in July was forced to postpone their fixture till this month after their national stadium was redeemed to be substandard for the game. Ends
