Grozny, Russia: Egypt forward Mohammad Salah might have had a forgettable 26th birthday as his team lost to Uruguay in their World Cup opener on Friday, but a group of fans from Chechnya brought a smile to his face with a 100kg cake decorated with a golden boot.
Salah, who scored 44 goals for Liverpool last season, injured shoulder ligaments in the Champions League final defeat by Real Madrid on May 26 and was not risked in Egypt’s 1-0 Group A loss to Uruguay in Yekaterinburg.
Egypt’s talisman, who is expected to play in their remaining group games with Russia and Saudi Arabia, was presented with the two-tier cake in the colours of the national flag on the team’s arrival at their training base of Grozny early on Saturday.
Salah smiled and hugged his teammates as they sang ‘Happy Birthday’ in English and Arabic before blowing out the candles and heading to his room.
Egypt coach Hector Cuper, meanwhile, lamented the absence of star forward from the Pharaohs’ 2018 World Cup opener. Cuper said he thought of the possibility of putting in the Liverpool striker, who hurt his shoulder in the English team’s 1-3 loss to Real Madrid in the Uefa Champions League final on May 26, reports Efe.
“Salah is very important for us, no one can deny that. But ... we have a good team and with Salah playing, things could have gone in different way. He certainly will contribute ... in the next matches,” Cuper said after the defeat.
The coaching staff, in consultation with team doctors, decided to keep Salah on the bench for Friday’s contest, Cuper said.
The Argentine also spoke of Egypt’s next opponent, Russia, who routed Saudi Arabia 5-0 on Thursday.
“If you analyse Russia’s first match, they scored a lot of goals. Always there are options to win. Whether Salah will play? He is very likely to play, almost definitely. He did not play in this match because there was a risk,” Cuper said.
