Pharaoh oh-oh
Star Salah may be out longer than first believed, which is bad news for Egypt side
Egyptian superstar Mohamed Salah appears to be on the mend.
The Liverpool attacker — Egypt’s best player in generations — is ramping up rehabilitation efforts after sustaining a shoulder injury during last month’s Champions League final loss to Real Madrid.
Salah tweeted an image of himself earlier this week that showed him performing shoulder exercises.
A caption below the photo read “Good feelings …” — giving Egyptian fans hope Salah might return in time for their World Cup opener against Uruguay.
However, that was before Egypt played Colombia to a goalless draw Sunday in Bergamo, Italy.
“We are working to cover the absence of Salah,” Egypt
manager Hector Cuper said, according to ESPN.
“The players responded perfectly to our instructions, but Salah’s absence affects any team negatively.”
Cuper’s suggestion The Pharaohs are preparing for life without their best player sounded rather ominous.
Egypt is now winless in five games dating back to a World Cup qualifying win over Congo last October.
While Cuper was asked
to address concerns surrounding his players’ fasting during Ramadan, the Argentine bench boss said he’s more concerned with how his team is going to counter-attack at this summer’s tournament.
“We are trying to solve this problem with nutrition experts, to avoid the negative effects of the players abstaining from food and water for a large number of hours,” Cuper added.
“I’m most worried about turning from defence to attack as quick as we can. We’ve tried to achieve satisfactory form, especially playing against a big team like Colombia. The draw was a good result, but we want to win in the coming matches.”
Salah tweeted he’ll be ready when the FIFA World Cup kicks off on June 14.
We are working to cover the absence of Salah. The players responded perfectly to our instructions, but Salah’s absence affects any team negatively.
Egypt coach Hector Cuper