Sam Morsy may have fulfilled a dream of playing in the Premier League, but the Egyptian will not rest on his laurels as he looks to return to the international fold.
The Ipswich Town captain has not played for his country since last September, winning his ninth cap against Tunisia.
But Morsy has not given up hope, despite being overlooked for the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Cape Verde and Botswana in September.
The 32-year-old midfielder knows his best chance of a recall to Hossam Hassan’s side is to prove his worth in the top flight against some of the world’s best players.
“There’s not a better league in world football to show what I can do,” said Morsy, who led Ipswich to successive promotions from League One and the Championship.
“If I can do well at this level, it will probably be quite hard for the Egypt manager to leave me out.
“Of course I want to play for Egypt again — that’s always my ambition. Unfortunately I didn’t get called up to this squad for September, but look, you don’t want to be too greedy.
“I want to enjoy my time here with Ipswich and I’ll be ready when called upon.”
Wolverhampton-born Morsy, who qualifies for Egypt through his father Mekawy, made his national team debut in 2016 against Guinea.
He was part of Egypt’s World Cup squad for the 2018 finals in Russia, making an appearance against Uruguay.
And Morsy has targeted another appearance on football’s biggest stage when Canada, Mexico and the US host the tournament in 2026.
“Of course it’s a dream to play in the next World Cup,” he told Arab News exclusively. “I played in the 2018 one and it was a really proud moment and I’d love to get the opportunity again.
“But there’s a lot of time and a lot of work to get there. I will keep working hard and see what happens.”
Morsy has certainly worked hard to reach the top flight, having spent most of his career in the lower leagues at clubs such as Port Vale, Chesterfield, Wigan, Middlesbrough and then Ipswich.
And he has strived to improve even more by taking advice from Egypt and Liverpool hero Mohamed Salah.
“Mohamed’s an amazing guy,” said Morsy. “He’s always helped me, given me loads of advice, always an ear to listen to.
“I’ve quizzed him on many many things and he was always helpful, as he is now.
“I ask loads of things, technical things, physical things, recovery things and he is always on hand to help, like he is with all the national team. He’s just a fantastic human being.”
Salah and Liverpool ruined Ipswich’s return to the Premier League after a 23-year absence with a 2-0 opening-day league win.
That was followed by a 4-1 loss at an Erling Haaland-inspired Manchester City.
But Morsy said he and Ipswich — who host Fulham on Saturday at Portman Road — can only learn from facing English football’s finest.
“Playing in this league and against the best players is definitely what I’ve always dreamed of — that’s the level you want,” he said.
“In any walk of life really you want to push yourself and test yourself. This is the best these last two league games, especially the game against Manchester City.
“It’s against the best in the world, people we watch every week and there’s loads of things for us to work on and improve on.
“We want to have a good season. Last season we got promoted and that’s a good thing, but what we can do this time, who knows?
“We don’t want to put a ceiling on it. Always your first goal is to remain in the division, but we want to be competitive and win a lot of games.”
