Egyptian forward Amr Zaki (left) fights for the ball with Senegalese captain Lamine Diatta during their African Nations Cup semi-final in Cairo on Tuesday. (AFP)

Cairo: Egypt’s march to the African Nations Cup final was completely overshadowed on Wednesday when the host nation kicked striker Mido out of their squad following his extraordinary tirade against coach Hassan Shehata.

Mido was also suspended from Egypt’s national team for six months for the prolonged tantrum he threw after being substituted during Tuesday’s 2-1 semi-final win over Senegal (as reported in Wednesday’s Late City edition).

Egypt will thus face Ivory Coast in Friday’s final without the Tottenham Hotspur striker and if they win, they will be the first country to win the African Nations Cup five times.

The consequences of Mido’s outburst, however, will hang heavy over the Cairo showpiece that should have marked one of the proudest moments in Egyptian soccer history.

A state-run news agency reported on Wednesday: “Ahmed Hossam Mido objected to Hassan Shehata and expressed his anger at his decision to substitute him... using unacceptable language with Shehata when he left the pitch.”

Samir Zaher, 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.”

Mido scored the opening goal in the tournament for Egypt when they beat Libya 3-0 in their first match but public opinion has now turned against the 22-year-old, who came close to trading blows with Shehata when he was taken off in the 78th minute.

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

Substitute Amr Zaki scored the winner two minutes after replacing Mido, vindicating Shehata’s decision, but the coach now has only three recognised strikers in his squad, one of whom is a 39-year-old, Hossam Hassan.