The Brighton born and bred defender qualifies for the African country through his dad and has previously spoken of his ambition to force his way into the Pharaohs line-up. Back in 2005 he said, “It’s always been a dream for me to play for Egypt,” and it now looks certain he will get his chance after being named in the 30-man squad. The Seagulls’ number six has played 259 for his hometown side since breaking into the first team in a 2-1 win at Notts County in November 2003. El-Abd is not the only Albion star to get international recognition this week. Craig Mackail-Smith was called up to the Scotland squad to play the USA in Florida on May 26.