Egypt football legend Ahmed Hassan has criticised Mohamed Salah for his decision to return to Liverpool to recover from the injury he sustained at the Africa Cup of Nations.
Salah limped off the pitch during Egypt’s 2-2 draw with Ghana on Thursday, with the Egyptian FA later confirming that the winger had suffered a hamstring injury.
It was stated that the injury would likely keep him out of his country’s final group game against Cape Verde and their round-of-16 clash should they make it that far.
Ahead of the Cape Verde clash, the 31-year-old said he had belief that his team could go all the way in the tournament and said his focus was on the match and not his injury.
On Sunday evening, Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp announced that Salah would actually be returning from the Ivory Coast early to continue his recovery at Liverpool, adding that should Egypt progress to the knockouts he will return to his nation if fit.
‘However long he’s out, I think, probably everyone sees this, it makes sense that he does rehab with us or our people, that’s the plan,’ the manager said.
This decision has not gone down too well for some however, including Hassan who is the Pharaohs’ all-time most capped player, who said: ‘I’ve always backed Salah and I was very happy with his presence as captain of the Egyptian national team.
‘I had no problems with what he said, but it turned out that he was plotting his departure from the Egypt camp.
‘Do the AFCON regulations allow a player to leave the national team’s camp and come back again? He had the possibility of bringing in someone from Liverpool’s medical staff to be with him during the competition.
‘Again, he is the captain. He should stay with the team no matter what, even if he only had one leg to stand on.
‘He even said himself that it’s the Egyptian national team, not Salah’s national team, and this is true. We have confidence in all the players who are there and they must fight for the title.’
Having taken just two points from their opening two group games, only a victory against Cape Verde will guarantee Egypt’s place in the knockout phase of the tournament.
Should they fail to win, they will have to rely on the match between Ghana and Mozambique going in their favour.
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