Cairo - Arabstoday
Egyptian footballer Amir Adel has said he is happy to compete in the African Championships. "I was offered spots in the Danish and the Dutch national teams earlier but I preferred to play with Egypt," the 18-year-old player was quoted as saying by Al-Ahram Al-Reyady weekly magazine on Wednesday. Dutch PSV Eindhoven's centre playmaker Amir Adel is one of the new faces that coach Rabie Yassin introduced in Egypt's under-20 squad for the African competition. "My father [former Ahly player Adel Ahmed] is a friend of coach Yassin since they played together in the 1980s, and he recommended me to him," said Alexander Jacobsen, as the Dutch crowd know him, adding, "I am hoping I can be a helpful element to the team's success and continue down the road with them." Egypt will play in Group A alongside hosts Algeria, Ghana and Benin in the tournament which is being held 16-30 March. The forward, who also plays as right and left-winger, started his career at Denmark's FC Copenhagen and was known as Denmark's Ronaldinho as a youth player. Source: Ahram Online