Salah's reaction to Egypt AFCON drama speaks volumes after Liverpool criticism

23 January 2024 , 10:23

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Mohamed Salah was put through the wringer by Egypt (Image: Fareed Kotb/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Mohamed Salah lived every excruciating moment of Egypt’s game against Cape Verde at the Africa Cup of Nations on Monday night.

Salah was absent from the team after picking up a hamstring injury in the previous match against Ghana last week. The Liverpool star’s agent has since confirmed that the problem is worse than first feared and that he will return to Merseyside to undergo rehabilitation in the hope he could return later in the tournament, if his team progresses.

His decision to leave Egypt and return to Liverpool for treatment has not gone down well, with the country’s most-capped player Ahmed Hassan accusing him of deserting the side. Salah was still present for the tense encounter against Cape Verde and his nerves were there for all to see.

Egypt needed a result from their final Group B fixture after drawing against Mozambique and Ghana, but made hard work of it. Salah feared the worst when they went behind in first-half stoppage time as Gilson Tavares opened the scoring, but former Aston Villa winger Trezeguet equalised in the 50th minute.

Egypt appeared to have grabbed a dramatic winner when Mostafa Mohamed netted in the 93rd minute. Mohamed ripped off his shirt as he rushed to the fans in emotional scenes, but the match was not done.

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They then looked to have blown their chances of qualifying when Mohamed El Shenawy pushed out a shot and Cape Verde’s Bryan Teixeira fired into the roof of the net in the 99th minute to make it 2-2.

Mohamed Salah was forced to watch his side's crucial match (AFP via Getty Images)

Egypt’s players looked crestfallen by the shock late equaliser, but they scraped into the knockout stages thanks to Ghana’s 2-2 draw against Mozambique. Egypt went through in second place with three points from three successive 2-2 draws, ahead of Ghana, who only picked up two.

Salah was distraught at not being able to help his team and he was a picture of tension and emotion in the stands. He was seen with his head in his hands in the closing stages as his elation at Mohamed’s goal faded into desolation and then back to happiness at their qualification.

He is now expected to fly back to Liverpool to work on his rehabilitation in the hope he might be back fit if Egypt reach the semi-finals on February 7. "That is the plan, if that is already decided 100 per cent I don't know,” Jurgen Klopp explained after Liverpool’s 4-0 win over Bournemouth on Sunday.

Egypt thought the 99th-minute goal had knocked them out (Fareed Kotb/Anadolu via Getty Images)

"But that is the plan. However long he is out for, it makes sense he does the rehab with us and our people. If it is written in stone, I don't know.

"I spoke to him the night it happened and since then he has been in contact with our doctor and the doc tells me the news. Could he go back [to AFCON]? I am not a doctor but I would say if he is fit before the final and Egypt qualify then probably yes. Why not? That is the tournament. Ivory Coast is a wonderful country but we have no people there and the people who are there have to look after the ones who are playing."

Felix Keith