Pretoria - Football fans can expect to witness a feast of talent when the 2008 African Cup of Nations champions Egypt lock horns with Brazil in their Confederations Cup encounter in two weeks.
The Pharaohs take on defending Confederations Cup champs, Brazil, on 15 June at the Free State Stadium at 4pm.
The once shining light of Egyptian football and Wigan Athletic striker, Mido, 26, has been left out of the national squad, set to represent Africa in the Confederations Cup, because of his poor form.
Egypt technical team member, Hamda Soudqi explained to Goal.com that Mido's recurring injuries did not help his cause for a place in the African champions.
"The main reason for not calling Mido is his poor performance with Wigan, and also because he is not playing in the starting XI for his club.
"This puts to rest speculation that Mido was axed because of his rivalry with Wigan team-mate, Amr Zaki," he said.
However, Mido's sheer wizardry with the ball might not be fully missed, as all eyes will be on the team's star player, Mohamed Zidan.
Egypt has been drawn into group B with the 2006 World Cup winners, Italy and the unpredictable United States of America (USA).
The Pharaohs' next encounter will be against the unstoppable Italy at Coca-Cola Park in Johannesburg at 8:30pm.
It remains to be seen whether the Egyptian defenders will be able to contain Italy's star player, Daniele De Rossi, who wear's jersey number ten.
They will play against the USA on 21 June at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium in Rustenburg in the North West at 8:30pm.
Presently, Egypt announced its 28-man provisional squad that will go to camp in Oman and play a friendly game with the country's national side before the final list of 23 for the Confederations Cup is released.
Zamalek youngster Hazem Emam received his first-ever call-up after impressing for his club in the second round of the league.
Also included in the squad is Arab Contractors' striker Ihab Al-Masri, which will be trimmed to 23 before the Algeria trip by coach Hassan Shehata.
The full provisional squad includes Goalkeepers: Essam El-Hadary (Sion), Abdul-Wahed Al-Sayed (Zamalek), Mohamed Sobhi (Ismaily) and Al-Hani Soliman (Ittihad).
The defenders will consist of Hani Saied and Mahmoud Fathalla (Zamalek), Wael Gomaa and Sayed Moawad (Ahly), Ahmed Saied (Harras Hodoud), Sherif Abdul-Fadil (Ismaily) and Ahmed Al-Muhammadi (ENPPI).
The Egypt midfielders will include Ahmed Samir Farag (Ismaily), Mohamed Aboutrika, Ahmed Fathi and Ahmed Hassan (Ahly), Hazem Emam (Zamalek), Mohamed Shawki (Middlesbrough), Hosni Abd-Rabou (Ahli Dubai), Ahmed Khairi and Mohamed Hommos (Ismaily), Abdul-Aziz Tawfik (ENPPI) and Ahmed Eid (Harras Hodoud).
The strikers that have been selected include Mohamed Zidan (Borussia Dortmund), Mohamed Mohsen Abou-Greisha (Ismaily), Ahmed Raouf (ENPPI), Ahmed Abdul-Ghani (Harras Hodoud), Ihab Al-Masri (Arab Contractors) and Amr Zaki (Zamalek.
Egypt was the first African country to participate in the World Cup when they played in Italy in 1934, losing to Hungary 4-2.
Egypt has qualified for one World Cup since then, going out in the first round in Italy 1990.
The Pharaohs are an African powerhouse, winning the African Cup of Nations in 1957, 1959, 1986, 1998, 2006, and 2008
