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Yesterday, Sunday, the captain of the Egyptian national team, Mohamed Salah, affirmed his belief that he will win the African Cup of Nations title “sooner or later,” acknowledging that his country’s national team needs to improve in order to move forward in the current edition in Ivory Coast, on the eve of the decisive match against Cape Verde in the third round. The latter, as he will be absent due to injury and will return immediately to England to complete treatment.
Salah said in a press conference, “I would like to win it (the African Cup) for sure. It will happen one way or another, and this is what I think. It will happen sooner or later.”
The striker, who scored 53 goals in 94 matches with his country’s national team, continued, “Everyone knows what winning the African Cup means for any African player.”
Salah will miss the match against Cape Verde and then the quarter-finals if he qualifies, due to a strain in the posterior muscle in his left thigh, which kept him out of the midway point of the summit match with Ghana on Thursday (2-2).
Star Mohamed Salah leaves the match between Egypt and Ghana injured 😮🇪🇬#Africa_Cup of Nations#TotalEnergiesAFCON2023 pic.twitter.com/tCWNAmMdp6
— beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS) January 18, 2024
The Egyptian Football Association announced – in a statement published by the local federation on social media – that Salah will travel after the Cape Verde match to England “to complete his treatment.”
The Federation said, “After additional examinations were conducted on Mohamed Salah during the last hours and after communication between the national team’s medical staff and his counterpart at Liverpool FC, it was decided that the player will return to England after the Cape Verde match (Cape Verde) tomorrow to complete his treatment, with the hope that he will join the national team in the semi-finals.” For the African Cup of Nations if qualified.
The statement came after a statement by his German coach at Liverpool, Jurgen Klopp, in which he said that he “believes” that Salah will return to England to complete treatment.
He added after the 4-0 victory over Bournemouth in the 21st round of the English Premier League that it is “logical” for Salah to leave the African Cup of Nations, at least temporarily, to be followed up by Liverpool’s medical team.
He added, “No matter how long his absence is, everyone sees the matter this way. It makes sense for him to rehabilitate himself with us or with our (medical) team. I do not know if the matter has already been resolved.”
The 31-year-old Liverpool winger, who during his career with his club won the English Premier League, the Champions League, the European Super Cup and the Club World Cup, lost the African Nations final twice in 2017 and 2021 to Cameroon and Senegal respectively.
Salah added, “I won everything possible, but this is the victory that has not happened yet” with his country, champion of the continent 7 times (a record).
Portuguese coach Rui Vitoria’s men have not been convinced so far during the tournament, as they lost their early lead against Mozambique and needed a last-gasp penalty kick scored by Salah himself to equalize 2-2. They came back from falling behind twice against Ghana and achieved a 2-2 draw as well.
The Egyptian national team 🇪🇬 escapes the trap of defeat with a 2-2 draw with the Mozambican national team 🇲🇿 in its first appearance in the African Cup of Nations Côte d’Ivoire 2023
⏯️ Watch the match summary 👇#Africa_Cup of Nations #Egypt_Mozambique#AFCON2023 | #TotalEnergiesAFCON2023 pic.twitter.com/haLRHywCZQ
— beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS) January 14, 2024
Today, Monday, Egypt (2 points) will play a decisive match against Cape Verde (6 points), which secured its qualification and top spot in the group, contrary to expectations.
Egypt plays for the chances of winning and drawing, but defeat will most likely eliminate it.
If it is unable to win, a draw point can qualify Egypt, if it is among the top 4 teams in third place out of the six groups.
Salah, the Pharaohs’ captain, admitted, “We are not performing well at the moment, but we have a great team and a great coach, so we just need to maintain focus.”
He continued, “I believe that with hard work, anything is possible. We only need to win one match to qualify and go from there,” stressing that the players are “very motivated to win the championship. We all want to win it.”
“We just have to fight and see what happens,” the Egyptian Pharaoh stressed.
Regarding the impact of his absence, the best player in Africa for the years 2017 and 2018 confirmed, “This is Egypt’s national team, not Mohamed Salah’s national team. Salah is one of 27 players.”
Vitoria has several options to replace Salah, such as Zamalek player Ahmed Sayed “Zizou,” Pyramids player Mostafa Fathi, and Al-Ahly striker Mahmoud Abdel Moneim “Kahraba.”
Egypt is seeking to avoid exit from the group stage for the first time since 2004.
In response to a question about coach Vitoria’s future in the event of exclusion, Salah replied that “he will continue.”
