Liverpool could be handed a huge boost ahead of their return to action next week by the national team boss of one Reds player.
Mo Salah scored his 58th goal for Egypt on Friday as they defeated Mauritania 2-0 in their Africa Cup of Nations qualifer in Cairo, with the teams meeting again for the reverse fixture in Nouakchott.
However, there’s a strong chance that the 32-year-old won’t feature at the Cheikha Ould Boïdiya Stadium, even though he’ll be available to play on Tuesday.
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Salah could be left out of next Egypt game
Egypt coach Hossam Hassan has openly declared that he’s willing to exempt Salah from playing in midweek due to the perceived physical nature of their opponents and the artificial surface on which the match will be played.
The 58-year-old said (via The Mirror): “If any player asks me not to play on artificial turf, I will agree. The Mauritanian team plays hard and with violent interventions, and their field is not the best. If Salah specifically asks me to do so, I will agree.
“I was very worried about the Mauritania match, and the pitch there is very difficult. Even if I don’t win there, it doesn’t matter. What matters to me is that I don’t lose.”
(Photo by Ahmad Hasaballah/Getty Images)Pray that Salah doesn’t play on Tuesday
It’s not every day that a national team coach would voluntarily omit a player of Salah’s world-class qualities for a competitive fixture that they’d be fully expected to win, so we’d be hugely grateful to Hassan if he were to leave out the Liverpool legend when Egypt go to Mauritania on Tuesday.
The Pharaohs boss is clearly conscious of the possibility of his star player suffering an injury from either their opponents’ ‘violent’ nature or the artificial surface in Nouakchott.
With the Egyptians boasting a six-point lead at the midway point of a group from which two teams will qualify for AFCON 2025, they’d be able to absorb a draw or defeat in Mauritania and still be in a comfortable position to secure their berth at the final with ease. Indeed, they’d clinch qualification in three days’ time with a win.
Salah has shown no sign of letting up at Liverpool, with six goals and five assists already this season, so every Reds fan will surely be hoping that Hassan gives him the day off for Egypt’s upcoming fixture.
We’ll need our number 11 to be fit and firing for a gruelling run of games after the international break, beginning with Chelsea’s visit to Anfield in eight days’ time. Hopefully he’ll play no part for his country on Tuesday, especially on a dreaded artificial pitch.
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