AFCON: Egypt Coach, Rui Vitoria Gives Update On Mohamed Salah’s Injury Against Ghana

Mohamed Salah was substituted towards the end of the initial half of the Group B match in Abidjan, as he seemed to be holding onto the back of his left leg.

Egypt national team coach, Rui Vitoria, has commented on yesterday’s match between his team and Ghana at the ongoing African Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2023 tournament in Cote d’Ivoire.

During the match on Thursday, Liverpool star forward Salah was removed from the pitch after an early injury scare.

“It is too early to say whether Mohamed Salah would play again at this year’s Africa Cup of Nations after he sustained an injury in Thursday’s 2-2 draw with Ghana,” Vitoria noted in a post-match interview.

The Egypt coach added: “We don’t know yet what is the problem. I hope not a big problem…It is too early to say something.

“Salah is an amazing player, one of the best players in the world, so we want to have this kind of player always with us.”

Sportxparte reports that yesterday’s match marked Egypt’s second successive 2-2 draw in the ongoing AFCON tournament.

“The players were upset after conceding at the end of the first half…but it’s football, we changed the mindset in the second half, we went for the game with positive energy,” said Vitoria.

“Not because of Salah, but because the result was not good. The reaction and commitment of the team were good, but Salah is an amazing player and we cannot forget that.”

Liverpool star forward, Mohamed Salah

Vitoria maintained that irrespective of the type of injury Salah had, his team possesses the ability to secure an unprecedented eighth AFCON title.

“Nobody wins the title without coming through difficult games…today we showed, mainly in the second half, the courage and quality of this team.”

Egypt narrowly avoided a surprising defeat to Mozambique in their first match thanks to Salah’s penalty in stoppage time.

However, they faced another tough challenge against a significantly improved Ghana team. After Salah’s injury, Ghana’s Mohammed Kudus scored a powerful long-range shot just before halftime, giving the Black Stars the lead.

Omar Marmoush managed to equalize for Egypt, but Kudus struck again to put Ghana ahead. Nevertheless, Mostafa Mohamed’s goal ensured that Egypt secured a draw, with the Nantes forward finding the net for the second consecutive game.