Mohamed Salah acts with the energy of a teenager on his first-ever football camp, according to his Egypt boss who says he is one of the best players in the world.
Salah was heavily criticised for his explosive comments about his club Liverpool and their head coach Arne Slot a fortnight ago – for which he apologised – but the nation of Egypt has been well behind him ahead of perhaps the 33-year-old’s final Africa Cup of Nations.
Speaking here in the sun-kissed Agadir on the foothills of Morocco’s Atlas Mountains ahead of Egypt’s AFCON opener against Zimbabwe, manager Hossam Hassan said: ‘Salah’s morale in training is very high, as if he were just starting out with the national team!
‘I believe he will have a great tournament with his country. Salah will be among the best players at the tournament, and he will remain an icon and one of the best players in the world.’
Mohamed Salah trains with Egypt at AFCON ahead of their opening game against Zimbabwe
Quizzed about the controversy sparked by Salah’s comments earlier this month, Hassan added: ‘There was constant communication with Mohamed during what I don’t want to call a crisis because any player can have a difference of opinion with his coach at his club.
‘The same situation happened with Salah when he went through a period of not scoring goals with Liverpool. Then he returned to the right path through the national team, and as a result, he came back at an even better level than before.’
Salah, alongside Manchester City’s Omar Marmoush, lead an Egypt side who are second favourites behind hosts Morocco in this edition of AFCON.
Egypt won the tournament three times in a row between 2006 and 2010 but are yet to do so in the so-called ‘Salah era’. The captain has twice been a runner-up, though, and is hoping to go one better here.
