Egypt on edge over return of injured Salah
ALL the talk around the Egypt team and their World Cup campaign has centred on the fitness of striker Mohamed Salah‚ which tells you all you need to know about his importance to the team.
The Liverpool forward has been among the leading players in Europe this season‚ banging in 44 goals in 52 appearances in all competitions for The Reds and playing an instrumental role in their surprisingly reaching the Uefa Champions League final.
But it was his shoulder injury in the decider against Real Madrid, according to some deliberately inflicted by Spain defender Sergio Ramos‚ that deflated Liverpool’s players and saw them lose 3-1.
At the same time it has put Egypt as a country on edge as to whether he will be fit for the World Cup.
At this stage it looks 50-50 whether he will take part‚ having not yet returned to full training and with Egypt’s first game looming against Uruguay tomorrow.
But Egyptian Football Association official Ehab Lehita said Salah looked to be going well in his rehabilitation
“He is gradually getting better. However‚ I cannot confirm today that he will play in the first match‚” Lehita told reporters.
“We hope he will play in this match.”
Egypt have Argentine coach Hector Cuper in charge and while he obviously knows the value of Salah‚ he believes they can cope without their star man.
“We hope we won’t be affected‚ we try to be the same team‚ we can’t be dependent on one player‚” Cuper said.
“He’s important but if he’s not fit in time we will be ready with another player.”
Egypt are appearing in their first World Cup since Italy in 1990‚ a staggering statistic when you think how they dominated African football at both club and country level in between‚ especially in the early part of this century.
Great players like Mohamed Aboutrika‚ Ahmed Hassan‚ Wael Gomaa and Mido never got to taste a World Cup finals‚ but one of their longstanding veterans‚ goalkeeper Essam El Hadary‚ will achieve that goal. El Hadary remains Egypt’s No 1 gloveman at the age of 45 and is expected to line up against Uruguay‚ making him the oldest player ever to feature in a World Cup‚ beating the record of Colombian keeper Faryd Mondragón‚ who was 43 when he appeared at Brazil 2014.
Egypt should fancy their chances of reaching the second round as aside from difficult opponents Uruguay‚ they also have lowest-ranked sides Russia and Saudi Arabia in their pool. – TimesLIVE