'It is more than football,' Awad on featuring in 2019 AFCON

CAIRO – 28 January 2019: Egyptian international goalkeeper, Mohamed Awad, hopes to be the national team's starting goalkeeper at the 2019 African Cup of Nations in Egypt.

Awad, who plays for Saudi Arabian Al-Wehda, believes that playing at the competition at home makes it much more important.
“It is an unrepeatable chance to play at the competition at home. I was young when we hosted the competition in 2006 and it is a great feeling to wear the national team's jersey at home,” Awad told ON Sport on Sunday.

Awad, 26, is in battle with Al-Ahly’s Mohamed el-Shenawy and Zamalek’s Mahmoud Gennesh to be Egypt’s starting goalkeeper at the tournament.

Awad added, “We will fight to win the title at home and make our fans happy. It is more than football; it is our duty towards our nation.”

Awad was named in Egypt’s preliminary squad for the 2018 World Cup in Russia but he was excluded from the final squad.

Egypt is the most successful nation in the history of the competition as Egypt has won a record of seven titles including three in a row between 2006 and 2010.
Egypt hosted four African Cup of Nations tournaments in 1959, 1974, 1986 and 2006 and they failed to achieve the title only in 1974.