African giants' boss 'demands' league stop for national team

An African giants' boss has made a demand to stop league football in order to prioritise his national team's next matches. 

The next international break takes place in June, with teams in Africa set to resume their 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. 

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However, a congested calendar raises some concerns for some managers, and injuries, fatigue and the overall availability of players is increasingly becoming a headache for club and national team coaches.

One such example is new Egypt coach Hossam Hassan, who has now appealed to the Egyptian Football Association (EFA) to help with the situation.

According to Al Qahria, the Pharaohs manager has requested that the EFA to postpone league football for an additional five days before the June international break so that the national team has more time to prepare for their fixtures, with Egypt scheduled to play Burkina Faso and Equatorial Guinea in their next qualifiers. 

Notably, Hassan is believed to have issues with the country's main talisman, Mohamed Salah. It is reported that this arose after the Liverpool star refused a call-up in March, insisting he would rather focus on club football after his return from injury. 

"He told him that he did not want to leave Liverpool to play friendlies against New Zealand and Croatia and would rather focus on his club football," Sabry Siraq, a prominent football commentator, said, according to The National News.

Ahmed Shobeir, a former Egypt international, has since slammed Hassan for the way he has handled the situation.

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After stating that he expects the Reds forward to be available for the June international break, Shobeir