Donis's absence from the Saudi national team's training due to influenza and successive crises in the Egyptian national team's camp

Asharq Al-Awsat sources learned that Greek Giorgos Donis, the coach of the first Saudi national team, was suffering from a cold (influenza), which was the reason behind his absence from supervising the “Al-Akhdar” group training yesterday, in addition to his absence from attending the press conference for tomorrow’s confrontation against the Iraqi national team.

The assistant coach, Seraphim Angelinas, replaced Donis in the press conference to talk about facing Al-Akhdar at the conclusion of the matches of the third and final round of the first group competitions of the Arabian Gulf Cup Championship “Gulf 27”.

“Al-Akhdar” enters the match with great comfort after officially clinching the qualification ticket to the semi-finals of the tournament, after achieving two successive victories at the expense of the Kuwaiti and Omani teams in the last two rounds.

Successive crises prevailed in the Egyptian national football team’s camp without warning before, during and after the match between Angola on Friday in the first round of qualifiers for the 2027 African Cup of Nations. They reached their peak with the announcement of the absence of the Pharaohs’ captain and their first star, Mohamed Salah, from the match against South Sudan in the second round on Tuesday.

The Pharaohs' camp turned from the state of happiness that began after the wonderful participation in the World Cup finals in North America, to a state of anticipation and tension. The beginning was before the Angola match, when the national team’s coach, Hossam Hassan, responded to a question about the absence of veteran Al-Ahly goalkeeper Mohamed El-Shenawy from the camp roster, and whether it was due to injury, as his club announced. Hassan replied that he had included El-Shenawy before at a time when the player was “finished with his club.” He added that excluding the goalkeeper was his own technical point of view.

While there was no reaction from El-Shenawy, Al-Ahly Club waited for the end of the Angola match, and issued a strongly worded statement in which it described Hossam Hassan’s statements as “irresponsible, reflect a limited vision, and destroy the relationship of respect between the club and the national team.” President of the Egyptian Football Association, Hani Abu Raida, commented on the matter in press statements in which he stated that El-Shenawy is a symbol of the national team that must be respected and not belittled.

The crises continued during the match between Egypt and Angola when Hossam Hassan replaced captain Mohamed Salah in the 61st minute, in a decision that Hossam Hassan described in the press conference after the match as “technical because of Salah’s level in the match.”

It seems that the decision angered the team captain, who joined the ranks of the Pharaohs after his hat-trick against Galatasaray in the Turkish league with his team, Trabzonspor, raising his score to seven goals at the top of the scorers’ standings. He decided to leave the camp on the same night, according to what a source in the team told Agence France-Presse.

The morning after the match, national team manager Ibrahim Hassan, the twin brother of coach Hossam, made statements in which he confirmed that Salah would miss the South Sudan match scheduled for Tuesday due to the nature of the Juba Stadium ground, which consists of artificial turf, before it was later announced that defender Mohamed Abdel Moneim would be removed from the list before traveling to South Sudan for the same reason. Although the Egyptian national team is scheduled to play a friendly international match with South Africa on October 4th at Cairo International Stadium, the source told Agence France-Presse that Salah will not return to the camp, nor will he participate in it, which sparked more controversy over the fact that the player was absent from the South Sudan match due to the artificial turf. Ibrahim Hassan told Agence France-Presse: “There is no crisis. Mohamed Salah excused himself from the South Sudan match some time ago due to the pitch. This is not the first time, but it happened in the Mauritania match in the previous African Cup of Nations qualifiers.” He pointed out that Abdel Moneim's position is similar to Salah's, especially since the French Nice defender is returning from a ruptured cruciate ligament injury in the knee.

For his part, former Egyptian national team striker Ahmed Hossam (Mido) considered that Mohamed Salah’s departure from the camp was unacceptable, describing it as a “disaster.” Mido told Agence France-Presse: “The team captain’s departure from the camp and before an official match is an indication that there is chaos in the team. After the technical director’s statements about Mohamed El-Shenawy, then Salah’s latest position, and based on my experience as a player and coach, I believe that the matter is out of control, and officials must intervene urgently.” The former Dutch Ajax Amsterdam, English Tottenham, and Italian Roma player added: “I think that Hossam Hassan should officially apologize as soon as possible for his statements, and try to reunite, because the current situation cannot tolerate all these crises.”

Hossam Hassan's term as head of the Pharaohs' technical staff witnessed clashes with several basic pillars, which began with defense tycoon Ahmed Hegazy, then the former Zamalek, French Nantes and current Turkish Konyaspor striker Mustafa Mohamed.

Croatian Dragan Talajic, coach of the Bahraini national team, took full responsibility for his team’s exit from the Arabian Gulf Cup “Gulf 27,” stressing that he would sit with his players to find out the reasons for what happened and search for solutions.

Speaking to media representatives after the loss to the UAE, Talajic said: “I congratulate the UAE national team on this victory. We have some reasons that we must all sit down to discuss and find solutions to what happened, but the first reason is me.

He added: “I bear responsibility for everything, because I am the one who chooses the players who participate. I always say that when we win, as happened in Kuwait, the players are the heroes and I stand behind them, and when bad things happen, as happened now, I stand in front of them, and everyone can blame me, not my players.

He continued: “I will sit with the players and we will search for solutions, and we will find out why this happened in this way.”

When asked if this was his last tournament with the Bahraini national team, Talajic replied: “Maybe, I don’t know, I really don’t know.”

But he confirmed his desire to continue with the Bahraini national team, saying: “Of course, I have a contract and I will continue, and God willing, we will find the best solutions to develop our level of football, but the matter depends on the Bahraini Football Association and the decision it will take.”

Regarding his prediction of the teams that will reach the final, Talajic refused to nominate any team, and said: “I don’t want to talk about that. “I am sad because I will not be in the final, and whoever reaches it, I congratulate him and wish him all the best.”