While Arne Slot seems to believe Liverpool’s starting XI is stronger without Mohamed Salah, the Reds have struggled to find the back of the net in recent weeks without their talisman. It’s evident that Anfield needs its Egyptian King back as soon as possible.
Salah, however, is determined to extend his run at the Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco, making no secret of how much the tournament means to him.
“I have won almost every honour in the game,” Salah said on Saturday, “but this is the one I am waiting for. Everyone wants to achieve something for their country, so I hope we succeed. I think there is no one in Egypt who wants to win the Africa Cup of Nations more than me. I have achieved everything except this title.”
Salah has come agonisingly close before. Egypt not only lost in the final four years ago but were also defeated by Cameroon in the 2017 tournament decider. When he says he has been “withstanding” the weight of expectation for “a while,” it’s putting it mildly.
The good news for Salah is that after scoring the decisive goal in Egypt’s 3-2 quarter-final win over Ivory Coast, he’s now just two matches away from fulfilling his dream. The bad news: Sadio Mané is once again in his way. The Senegalese superstar has long been one of Salah’s fiercest rivals, even during their time as teammates at Liverpool.
Mané has admitted he never fully understood why he and Salah never clicked off the pitch, suggesting in his book that part of the tension might stem from “the Egypt-Senegal rivalry in African competitions.”
Internationally, Salah and Mané only faced each other twice, in the 2014 AFCON qualifiers, before joining forces at Anfield three years later. It’s been suggested that three intense clashes in the spring of 2022 contributed to Mané’s decision to leave Liverpool that summer.
Still, while Mané celebrated converting decisive penalties in both of Senegal’s shootout wins over Egypt — in the AFCON final and the World Cup qualification play-off — he did not take joy in Salah’s disappointment. On the contrary, he was quick to console his fellow forward after scoring his spot-kick in the AFCON decider in Cameroon.
