World Cup berth is a ‘gift from God’ to Torres

BELGIUM

V PANAMA

to the fullest. It’s something that I always dreamed about, going to a World Cup with the first team.”

Just a few years ago, however, Torres being in that position was in question. Shortly after joining Seattle Sounders in MLS, he sustained a torn ACL in his left knee and was sidelined for nearly a year.

“I had times when I thought that I wasn’t going to be able to return to soccer,” he said. “It was a moment of anger when I was told that I would be out for almost a year. It felt like the world was collapsing around me. After some time, I simply asked God to give me strength and the will to sacrifice myself every single day to get up early for my therapy, to give me mental fortitude.”

Having recovered, he scored the deciding penalty to win the 2017 MLS Cup, giving his club their first league championship. Now his right foot is revered in Seattle – just as it is in Panama. protesting in the streets. A win or a draw against Russia, who won their first match, will keep Egypt’s hopes alive ahead of their final group game against Saudi Arabia on 25 June.

It won’t be the first time Salah, who scored 44 goals in his debut season with Liverpool, is called upon to save the day. He scored five of Egypt’s eight goals in qualifying, including an injury-time penalty against Republic of Congo that ensured qualification with a game in hand.

Admirably, Salah’s niceguy image takes nothing away from his touch in front of goal.

“I want to be a top-level player for many more seasons to come,” said Salah, who was the Premier League’s top scorer last season. “I need to do that so I can be counted among the game’s greats,” he said in a recent television interview with an Egyptian TV channel. “This is who I am. I like to be better than anyone else. It’s all about taking on challenges.”