Mohamed Salah has been ruled out of Egypt’s friendly against Cape Verde on Monday, meaning the Liverpool forward will be rested ahead of the restart of the Premier League.
Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah is expected to miss Monday’s game against Egypt and Cape Verde, according to an official statement from the Pharaohs. But Reds fans need not worry. That’s because the star forward is only rested for the second game of the November international break.
Egypt is in the midst of a heated competition at the Al Ain International Cup in the United Arab Emirates this month, taking on Iran, Uzbekistan and Cape Verde in a four-team friendly tournament. Salah played the full game in Friday’s semi-final against Uzbekistan. However, Egypt suffered an unexpected loss 0-2 and missed out on advancing to the final against Iran.
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The Pharaohs will instead face Cape Verde in the third-place play-off on Monday, and have decided to give Salah some breathing room as a result. The Egyptian Football Association confirmed his absence in an official statement released on Saturday night.
“The Egyptian national football team, led by Hossam Hassan, held a training session in Al Ain in preparation for the friendly match against Cape Verde, which will be played at the Hazza bin Zayed Stadium in Al Ain, UAE, on Monday at 6pm Cairo time.”
“It has also been confirmed that the duo of Ahmed Said Zizo and Hamdi Fati will be absent from the game against Cape Verde due to injury, Mohamed Salah will be rested and will not take part in the friendly against Cape Verde, while Salah Mohsen will undergo recovery training.
“Football Association Directors Tarek Abu El-Enein and Mohamed Abu Hussein attended the training session of the Egyptian national team.”
Salah is not expected to feature in the game against Cape Verde, so the 33-year-old will be fully refreshed when Liverpool return to action against Nottingham Forest on Saturday, November 22, after the November international break. However, Salah’s international career for the calendar year is not over yet, as he is scheduled to captain Egypt at next month’s Africa Cup of Nations tournament in Morocco (starting December 21).
The Pharaohs are in Group B alongside South Africa, Angola and Zimbabwe, meaning Liverpool will be without their forward for at least three games. If Egypt reach the final in Rabat on January 18, he could miss up to eight Reds games, including away games against Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal.
Salah has not been at his best for Liverpool this season, and his play is attracting increasing attention. Despite winning both the Premier League’s Golden Boot and Playmaker awards last year, and leading the Reds to the Premier League title and sweeping the individual awards, he has scored just five goals and provided three assists in 16 games this season.
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