Egypt U23 head coach Shawky Gharib has plans to select Mohamed Salah as the only overage player in his team for this summer’s Olympics Games in Tokyo.
The event’s football competition is typically between national under-23 sides but with special dispensation that countries can call up three overage players to join their junior countrymen.
Juventus star Stephen Appiah , William Tiero of Asante Kotoko and Baffour Gyan of Dynamo Moscow were the three senior team members taken to Athens 2004 by coach Mariano Barreto who currently Kotoko head coach.
“The only senior player who has been chosen is Mohamed Salah, he’s one of the best three players in the world. The remaining choices will depend on the team’s need,” coach Gharib told OnTime Sport TV as per Kingfut.com.
“Let’s wait until the tournament draws and see who will join the likes of France, Argentina and Germany.
“To add an overage player, they must be much better than the ones we already have in the Olympic team.”
“Egypt as a whole has been talking about the overage trio since the U23 Afcon final,” he continued.
“Regarding Spain, the European champions, I read a statement by Sergio Ramos saying that the Olympics are the only tournament he never got to participate in. So maybe we’ll see Ramos with them, just as Neymar joined Brazil in 2016,”
