AGADIR: Mohamed Salah has shown no signs of being distracted by the uncertainty surrounding his future at Liverpool as he prepares to lead Egypt into the Africa Cup of Nations, Pharaohs coach Hossam Hassan said on Sunday.
“Salah’s morale in training is very high, as if he were just starting out with the national team, and I believe he will have a great tournament with his country,” Hassan told reporters ahead of Egypt’s opening AFCON game against Zimbabwe in Agadir on Monday.
“I feel his motivation is very, very strong. Salah is an icon and will remain so. He is one of the best players in the world, and I support him in everything he does,” Hassan added.
Salah did not start any of Liverpool’s last five games before departing for the Cup of Nations in Morocco and things came to a head following the recent Premier League draw at Leeds United when he claimed he had been “thrown under the bus” by his coach at Anfield, Arne Slot.
That suggested a move away from the troubled Premier League champions during the January transfer window was a real possibility.
“I don’t consider what happened to him to be a crisis. These things often happen between players and coaches,” Hassan added.
“We’ve been in contact with him by phone from the beginning, and I met with him when he joined the national team camp. His focus is entirely on the tournament.”
Salah, 33, is aiming to lead Egypt to a record-extending eighth AFCON title in Morocco. He has never won the continental title, but ended up on the losing side in final defeats by Cameroon in 2017 and Senegal in 2022.
His goals this year have already helped Egypt qualify for the World Cup.
“Whenever Salah’s performances dip with his club, he regains his strength with the national team and becomes even better, whether by contributing to goals or scoring himself. Then he returns to his club even stronger,” Hassan added.
“He needs to win the cup by helping us and by helping himself.”
Egypt will also face South Africa and Angola in Group B at the Cup of Nations, with all three of their games in the first round being played in Agadir.
Salah unaffected by Liverpool turmoil ahead of AFCON opener — Egypt coach
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Salah unaffected by Liverpool turmoil ahead of AFCON opener — Egypt coach
Hosts Morocco off to winning start at Africa Cup of Nations
- Soufiane Rahimi had a penalty saved in a frustrating first half for much-fancied Morocco
- Win saw Morocco, Africa’s best team in FIFA rankings in 11th place, to extend world-record winning run to 19 consecutive matches
RABAT: Brahim Diaz and Ayoub El-Kaabi scored second-half goals as hosts Morocco got their Africa Cup of Nations bid off to a winning start by beating minnows Comoros 2-0 in the tournament’s opening game on Sunday.
Soufiane Rahimi had a penalty saved in a frustrating first half for much-fancied Morocco, but Diaz fired home from inside the area 10 minutes after the interval at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in the capital Rabat.
Substitute El-Kaabi then got the second with a stunning overhead kick, and the victory on a wet and cold night sets the Atlas Lions up for the potentially tougher tests to come in Group A against Mali and Zambia.
The result also allowed Morocco, Africa’s best team in the FIFA rankings in 11th place, to extend their world-record winning run to 19 consecutive matches.
The game was played out before a crowd of 60,180, with Moroccan Crown Prince Moulay Hassan — who appeared on the pitch ahead of kick-off — and FIFA president Gianni Infantino among those in attendance.
Morocco’s star man and captain Achraf Hakimi also ended up watching the entire game from the bench, with coach Walid Regragui preserving the Paris Saint-Germain full-back who has not played since suffering an ankle injury with his club at the start of November.
It looked set to be a long night for Comoros when Morocco won a penalty in the 10th minute as playmaker Diaz was tripped inside the box by Iyad Mohamed.
But Rahimi’s spot-kick was kept out by the legs of Yannick Pandor as the Comoros goalkeeper dived to his right, and the visitors then succeeded in thwarting their more illustrious hosts for the remainder of the first half.
- Stunning overhead kick -
However Morocco, who also saw veteran center-back Romain Saiss come off injured early on, succeeded in breaking down their opponents after half-time.
Comoros, the tiny Indian Ocean archipelago who are 108th in the world rankings, had their resistance ended as the opening goal arrived on 55 minutes.
Manchester United’s Noussair Mazraoui, starting at right-back with Hakimi not yet quite fully fit, picked up the ball on the right side of the penalty area and squared for Real Madrid’s Spanish-born number 10 Diaz to score.
Morocco, who had seen Neil El Aynaoui almost break the deadlock just before that, then saw space open up although Comoros had a chance of their own as Rafiki Said was denied when clean through on goal.
Mazraoui forced a good save from Pandor before El-Kaabi, of Greek giants Olympiakos, lit up the occasion by meeting a cross in from the left by Anass Salah-Eddine with a magnificent overhead bicycle kick to make it 2-0.
Morocco’s next game will be on Friday against Mali, who begin their campaign by taking on Zambia in Casablanca on Monday.
Elsewhere on Monday, South Africa face Angola in Marrakech before Mohamed Salah’s Egypt — the record seven-time African champions chasing a first title since 2010 — get their bid up and running against outsiders Zimbabwe in Agadir in Group B.
This latest edition of the Cup of Nations is the first to start in one year and end in another, with the final to take place in Rabat on January 18.
