Hamza Abdelkarim faces new opportunity with Egypt national team

Hamza Abdelkarim, the young forward of FC Barcelona, is preparing to make the most of the current international break to strengthen his presence with the Egypt national team, after not getting much playing time with the Catalan team at the start of the season.

According to the Spanish newspaper "Mundo Deportivo", the 18-year-old player will face Malawi on November 13 and 17 in the qualifiers for the Africa Cup of Nations, after scoring his first goal with the senior national team against South Sudan during the last break.

The two matches come amid a change in the coaching staff of the national team, following Hossam Hassan's departure and Ali Maher taking over. This opens up a new opportunity for Hamza Abdelkarim to prove himself, after the previous coach was one of his biggest supporters and called him up to the national team before he shone with FC Barcelona.

Hamza Abdelkarim is the only pure striker in the squad, while Ali Maher has relied on a centre-forward during his time with Cleopatra FC. This may give a FC Barcelona player more chances to participate, especially with Mohamed Salah, Omar Marmoush, and Mahmoud Mamdouh among the attacking options, as they prefer to play on the wings.

Barcelona are monitoring the performance of their young striker during the international break to assess his development and the possibility of him getting additional opportunities with the first team.