CAIRO: Egypt’s soccer federation says Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah will miss two Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.
Salah has an ankle injury and was ruled out of the Egyptian squad for games against Kenya on Thursday and Comoros on Monday.
The federation’s statement says Egypt coach Hossam El-Badry met with Salah, who stressed his commitment to play for the Pharaohs. That’s despite occasionally strained relations with the federation that go back to the World Cup in Russia last year.
Salah watched his teammates train near Alexandria on Tuesday with the federation tweeting a photo of Salah wearing a protective boot on his left foot.
The 27-year-old Salah has struggled with a nagging ankle injury the last month. He started and scored in Premier League leaders Liverpool’s 3-1 win over defending champions Manchester City on Sunday, coming off in the 87th minute.
Egypt are in Group G, which also includes Togo.
Egypt says Salah to miss two Cup of Nations qualifiers
Egypt says Salah to miss two Cup of Nations qualifiers
Gilgeous-Alexander leads Thunder in rout of Cavaliers
- Reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Gilgeous-Alexander’s 30-point haul led the way, with center Chet Holmgren providing offensive support with 28 points and Luguentz Dort adding 18 points
Los Angeles: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 30 points as the Oklahoma City Thunder returned to winning ways with a 136-104 pummeling of the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday.
Two days after suffering an upset defeat by Miami on Saturday, the NBA champions ensured there would be no repeat against Cleveland as the league marked the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday with a packed slate of fixtures.
Apart from a brief spell at the start of the first quarter, Oklahoma City led throughout, building up a double-digit lead before accelerating away with a 45-point fourth quarter.
Reigning NBA Most Valuable Player Gilgeous-Alexander’s 30-point haul led the way, with center Chet Holmgren providing offensive support with 28 points and Luguentz Dort adding 18 points.
Isaiah Joe chipped in with 16 points from the bench while Aaron Wiggins finished with 12 as five Thunder players recorded double figures en route to a victory that sees Oklahoma City improve to 36-8 at the top of the Western Conference.
Donovan Mitchell led Cleveland with 19 points while four Cavs players — Evan Mobley, Jarrett Allen, Jaylon Tyson and De’Andre Hunter — all finished with 16 points apiece.
In Monday’s other early game, Giannis Antetokounmpo’s 21 points helped the Milwaukee Bucks hold off a late rally in a 112-110 road win over the Atlanta Hawks.
Milwaukee opened a 23-point lead midway through the third quarter but a stubborn Atlanta line-up chipped away at that advantage and grabbed a slender one-point lead with just over a minute remaining before the Bucks reasserted themselves to dig out victory.
Nickeil Alexander-Walker led Atlanta’s scoring with 32 points off the bench including seven three-pointers, with Jalen Johnson finishing with 28 points for the home side.
