Mo Salah almost certain to face Uruguay, says Héctor Cúper
Mohamed Salah is expected to recover from his shoulder injury in time for Egypt's World Cup opener against Uruguay in Yekaterinburg tomorrow afternoon.
Mohamed Salah is almost certain to feature in Egypt's World Cup opener against Uruguay on Friday, coach Héctor Cúper told reporters this afternoon. Salah suffered a shoulder injury in Liverpool's 3-1 defeat to Real Madrid in the Champions League final last month but appears to have recovered in time to play a full part in Russia.
Salah over his shoulder injury
Speaking to the media on the eve of the Group A clash, Egypt boss Cúper said: "Salah is doing very well indeed, he's recovered very quickly. We'll see how it goes today [Thursday]. I can almost assure you 100 per cent he'll play unless something dramatic happens today or tomorrow. We're trying to make him feel confident. The doctors are giving him the options to play or not. I know Salah very well, he's not fearful, we always know we're running a risk when playing a match, that's something we can't hide. But if he does decide to play he'll have full guarantees on his physical condition and I'm sure he will be fine. And if it does turn out there's an issue at the last minute we'll consider it and see if it can be resolved."
Birthday boy
Salah, who turns 26 on Friday, arrived at the World Cup after an outstanding season for Liverpool, in which he scored 44 goals in 52 appearances in all competitions and was named the PFA Players' Player of the Year.
The winger sat out all of Egypt's three World Cup warm-up matches, in which the team lost to Belgium after draws against Kuwait and Colombia.
After taking on Uruguay tomorrow, Egypt face hosts Russia on Tuesday before their final group game against Saudi Arabia the following week.