Mido (footballer) - International Career

International Career

Mido played 13 times for the Egypt youth team between 1999 and 2001.

He has earned 51 caps for Egypt and scored 20 goals. Mido scored on his international debut against the United Arab Emirates, which Egypt won 2–1. Mido sent a fax to the Egypt team to tell them he was not available for international selection in May 2004, saying he was not psychologically fit to join the team. Mido was a part of the Egypt squad that played at the 2004 African Cup of Nations.

Egypt manager Marco Tardelli dropped Mido in September 2004, after Mido claimed to be unavailable for the national team due to an injury, but played in a friendly match for Roma 24 hours later. A day later, Mido rejected accusations that he refused to play for his country. Also, the Egyptian Football Association announced that he would not play for the team again. However, Tardelli was sacked as Egypt coach and in January 2005 the Egyptian Football Association said they would consider bringing Mido back into the team if he were to apologise for his past behaviour. Mido flew to Cairo in February 2005 and made a public apology and the following month he was recalled by the national team. Mido withdrew from Egypt's 2006 World Cup qualifier against Cameroon, after sustaining a muscle tear while playing with Tottenham Hotspur.

Mido was thrown out of the Egypt team during the 2006 African Cup of Nations as a consequence of an argument with coach Hassan Shehata in the semi-final game against Senegal, which started after Mido reacted badly to being substituted. His replacement Amr Zaki came on to score a header with his first touch, putting Egypt into the final. A day later, Mido reconciled with Shehata, but was given a six-month suspension from playing with Egypt. Mido was eventually recalled by the side following his suspension, ready for the 2008 African Cup of Nations qualification which Egypt won. Mido was included in the Egypt squad to play South Africa in London in November 2006, despite suffering from a knee injury at the time. However, he was left out of the Egypt squad to play Mauritania in an African Nations Cup qualifier in March 2007.