Mohamed Salah scored the winning goal in the last minute to help Egypt come from behind to beat Zimbabwe in their opening African Cup of Nations match. 20 minutes into the game, Prince Dube’s counter-attacking goal put them behind. However, coach Hossam Hassan’s side responded well and finished the first half on a high note.
Omar Marmouche’s stunning equalizer midway through the second half set the stage for Salah’s late heroics, with his close-range shot curling past Washington Albi just two minutes before full-time. Salah apologized to his Liverpool colleagues before departing for the competition after criticizing head coach Arne Slott and the club in a post-match interview following the draw with Leeds United earlier this month.
Salah said he no longer had a relationship with Slott, saying he felt “thrown under the bus” and was left out of the squad that won against Inter Milan in the Champions League.
Although he came off the bench in the subsequent win over Brighton & Hove Albion, his future at Liverpool remains uncertain.
But ahead of Saturday’s game between the Reds and Tottenham Hotspur, Curtis Jones told Sky Sports: “Mo is his own man and can speak for himself.
“He apologized to us and said, ‘I’m sorry if I influenced anyone or caused you any discomfort.’ That’s the man he is.
“I can only speak for you because I know Mo. I know how he was with us and how he acted about it. He was positive too.
“He was the exact same Mo. He had a big smile on his face and everyone was the exact same towards him. I think that’s probably part of wanting to be a winner. I don’t think he’ll be the last.”
Jones added: “I understand that things are done a certain way, but if a player just wants to be on the bench and doesn’t want to play and help the team, I think that’s more of a problem.”
“When there has been any anger from us, myself included, it has always been from a good place. It may not have manifested itself in the right way at the moment, but it has never affected the team, the staff, the manager, anyone like that.
“We’ve gotten over it now and started working well together as a team, playing well and winning games.
“I talked to players from different teams and I realized what our team is to their teams. It’s more of a family issue here, families argue and fight, but they always stick together. That little incident showed that family is the most important thing.”
“Obviously to the fans and to Mr. Mo, I say it hasn’t affected us in any way. It affected our mentality that we have to win, but I don’t blame anyone. I think that’s the important thing.”
