Mido kicked out of Egypt squad and suspended

Egyptian striker Mido has been kicked out of his country's squad at the African Nations Cup and suspended from the national team for six months following a row with coach Hassan Shehata.

Mido reacted angrily to being substituted in Tuesday's 2-1 semi-final victory over Senegal which put Egypt through to tomorrow's final against Ivory Coast.

The Egyptian FA has confirmed it has suspended him from playing for the national team for six months and the first match the Tottenham Hotspur striker will miss will be the final in Cairo, the climax of the three-week long competition.

The state-run news agency MENA reported yesterday that: "Ahmed Hossam Mido objected to (coach) Hassan Shehata and expressed his anger at his decision to substitute him yesterday... using unacceptable language with Shehata when he left the pitch."

Samir Zaher, the head of the Egyptian FA called an emergency meeting of his board after the match and they decided to suspend Mido "to re-establish respect for the training structure and to instil discipline," MENA added.

Shehata clearly faced a dilemma following Mido's furious protests on being substituted against Senegal. But public opinion turned against the 22-year-old striker, who came close to trading blows with Shehata when he was taken off in the 78th minute of the game.

One newspaper headline yesterday ran "Mido loses the respect of the nation" while most Egyptians said the player disgraced himself and should be kicked out of the squad.

That decision was duly taken and has left Shehata with only three recognised strikers in his squad, one of whom is 39-year-old warhorse Hossam Hassan.

Mido, selected for the anti-doping test, had calmed down when he left the stadium two hours after the end of the match, implying that Shehata had done the right thing.

"They had a lot of chances after I was substituted," he said.

"I hope we can win the final, it's very important for us."