Shehata plays down Zidan incident, to rest Al-Hadari

Egypt coach Hassan Shehata played down Mohamed Zidan's reaction to being substituted against Mozambique, adding that the striker will only be fined.<br>

كتب : Omar AbdelAziz

الأحد، 17 يناير 2010 - 14:33
Egypt coach Hassan Shehata played down Mohamed Zidan's reaction to being substituted against Mozambique, adding that the striker will only be fined.

Zidan was obviously unhappy to go off before the hour-mark in Saturday's 2-0 Nations Cup win, as he ignored substitute Ahmed Eid before throwing away his wristband in anger.

"Zidan felt that he wasn’t playing well, that’s why he was upset. It wasn’t because of the substitution," Shehata told Egyptian reporters in Benguela.

"A fine would be enough in this case, but we will not announce it in order to end the problem."

More Chances

Shehata revealed that the match against Benin will witness some changes in the starting line-up after Egypt made sure of finishing top of Group C.

"A few players will get their chances against Benin, we will probably make three or four changes," added the Egypt tactician.

"Essam Al-Hadari will likely be rested; either Abdul-Wahed Al-Sayed or Mahmoud Aboul-Saoud could get the nod."

Weak Competition

Shehata, who guided Egypt to the Nations Cup title in 2006 and 2008, believes that competition in Angola is not as strong as it was in the last two CAN editions.

"I think that competition in this tournament is much weaker compared to the previous two editions," the Zamalek legend added.

"The level of performance of big teams is relatively poor so far. For example in Group D, Gabon have a chance to qualify and eliminate either Cameroon or Tunisia."