Egypt football team captain Mohamed Salah missed his national team’s squad when he reached camp for the Africa Cup of Nations.
The 33-year-old faced a tough stretch lately. Liverpool manager Arne Slot benched him for three games in a row. Then Salah told reporters he felt “thrown under the bus.” That got him dropped from the trip to play Inter Milan. Talks with Slot brought him back to the first team.
Things did not return to normal right away. Slot put Salah on the bench again against Brighton. He still played over an hour and set up Hugo Ekitike’s second goal.
That match was Salah’s last before he flew to join Egypt for AFCON. They played a friendly against Nigeria on Tuesday, December 16. The real tournament starts next week with Zimbabwe.
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Salah’s issues with selection got worse. Egypt boss Hossam Hassan left him out of the matchday squad too.
The Pharaohs won 2-1. Mahmoud Saber and Mostafa Mohamed scored.
Salah did not need to complain to reporters this time. A simple reason explained his absence.
He and Premier League player Omar Marmoush arrived in Egypt early Tuesday morning. Both were question marks for the game.
For a friendly, it made no sense to skip rest and adjustment for a late afternoon start.
We at FourFourTwo think it was smart to rest Salah and Marmoush. Marmoush’s absence shows this has nothing to do with Salah’s club drama.
Salah will lead Egypt in Group B against Zimbabwe, South Africa, and Angola.
The Pharaohs need him to have a shot at winning the cup.
Transfermarkt values Salah at €30 million.
