Pain engulfed the hearts of Egyptian fans on Saturday night as they watched Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah and co struggle to defend the Egypt national team inside a packaged Cairo stadium at the ongoing Africa Cup of Nations.
The Pharaohs poured all they had into the AFCON round of 16 clash against South Africa but the Bafana Bafana had other plans as they won 1-0. The AFCON 2019 is gradually growing into an unforgettable spectacle following victories from minnows Madagascar over Nigeria, Benin’s heroic feat against Morocco and Egypt’s elimination at the hands of South Africa.
However UEFA Champions League holders, Liverpool and their manager Jurgen Klopp will be happy that Salah is injury free and he shows no sign of fatigue. The former Chelsea and Roma star had gone on to establish himself as a world-class star following his transfer from the Serie A.
.@MoSalah and Egypt's #AFCON2019 campaign ended last night with a 1-0 defeat against South Africa. https://t.co/qiSMPqoM6v
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) July 7, 2019
Salah took the Premier League and the rest of the world by storm when he hit the ground running at Anfield. With the help of Jurgen Klopp, he adapted his game from a natural winger to an inside forward and became the focal point of the team’s attack.
Salah went on to break Cristiano Ronaldo’s Premier League scoring record for a 38 game season, receiving the Premier League Golden Boot after registering a record 32 goals in 36 league games.
His record-breaking performances for Liverpool in his first season saw him receive a number of other accolades, including the PFA Players’ Player of the Year, the FWA Footballer of the Year and the PFA Fans’ Player of the Year awards.
Salah also came third in the 2018 Best FIFA Men’s Player award. In the following season, he finished as the Premier League’s joint-top goalscorer and helped the club win the UEFA Champions League.
While he has been great for Liverpool, he was also spectacular for the Egyptian national team leading them to the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia and the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations on home soil.
Since he became a Liverpool player, the Egypt international has not had a full summer to rest and reflect on the previous season because of his commitments to the Egyptian National team.
At the end of the 2017/18 season which ended with the UEFA Champions League final against Real Madrid, he joined up with the Pharaohs of Egypt for the 2018 FIFA World Cup despite nursing an injury inflicted by Sergio Ramos.
He had a slow start to the 2018/19 season after recovering from injury and the disappointment of a group stage exit at World Cup. He had another long season that ended with another appearance at the Champions League final before joining Egypt for the AFCON.
The Reds star was in tears after watching his chance of continental glory with Egypt slip by.
While Liverpool fans will be far from happy to see Salah sad, Egypt’s exit could give the Reds a huge advantage ahead of the new Premier League season. Liverpool was set to be without their talisman for the start of the campaign, but Salah now seems certain to be ready for their home game against Norwich on August 9.
The Egyptian is expected to be granted three weeks’ holiday by Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp before linking up with the Reds for pre-season training at the end of July.
Salah will miss the domestic warm-up games at Tranmere Rovers and Bradford City, the USA tour matches against Borussia Dortmund, Sevilla and Sporting Lisbon and the Edinburgh friendly against Napoli.
The forward should be back for the training camp in France, which includes Liverpool’s final friendly against Lyon in Geneva on July 31. Roberto Firmino and Alisson Becker, who are both in Copa America final action against Peru for Brazil on Sunday evening, are also expected to be given the same recuperation period before linking up with the squad.
All three would then be in contention for the Community Shield clash against Manchester City at Wembley on August 4, before the start of the Premier League season at home to Norwich City five days later.
With Liverpool’s incredible run in the Premier League last season, the prospect of beginning the season with a fully fit and well-rested Mohamed Salah looks promising for the Reds as they aim to build on their European success by winning the Premier League for the first time in almost 30 years.