Cúper optimistic "weapon" Salah will be fit for World Cup
Mohamed Salah's absence was felt by Egypt in their goalless draw with Colombia in Italy on Friday evening, coach Héctor Cúper admitted.
Egypt coach Héctor Cúper is optimistic that Mohamed Salah will be fit for the World Cup, but accepted his team struggled without their "weapon" against Colombia. With Salah sidelined due to a shoulder injury, Egypt played out a 0-0 draw against Colombia in Bergamo on Friday. The Liverpool star suffered the injury during the recent Champions League final defeat to Real Madrid, sparking fears he could miss Russia 2018.
Things looking up for Salah, says Cúper
Speaking after his side's friendly draw, Cúper said he still remained confident Salah would be fit for the showpiece tournament. "We are optimistic, and every medical report says he will make it," he said. "But we still have to prepare for any situation that could happen before we start."
Egypt's counter-attacking power compromised
Egypt have another friendly before their World Cup opener against Uruguay on 15 June, facing Belgium on Wednesday. Cúper said his side missed Salah, while adding Ramadan had impacted his players' energy levels. "Salah is not easy to replace, no doubt about that," he said. "He is a weapon for us, especially on counter-attack, making use of his speed and his quality. That's why today we struggled in our attacking performance. We tried to compensate that with some team playing, but as I said in the second half we lacked stamina because we have a special condition … for religious reasons, players don't drink nor eat anything, and we actually felt that. We tried to manage it using the whole team so it could try to respond better. We sprinted very well, because it was not easy to recover the ball."