In the aftermath of the Senegal defeat, Mohamed Salah has raised questions about his future with the Egyptian national team, which failed to qualify for the World Cup.
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Mohamed Salah suffered two heartbreaks with Egypt in a matter of weeks this year. First was the Africa Cup of Nations final in February, which his country lost to Senegal in a penalty shootout. Now, they have failed to qualify for this year’s World Cup, once again losing to Senegal in a penalty shootout on Tuesday. Considered by many as the most in-form player in the world currently, the year 2022 was expected to be the Liverpool frontman’s season. However, the two missed opportunities with the national team would have been hard on the winger, who can also play as a forward.
In the aftermath of the latest defeat to Senegal, Mohamed Salah has raised questions about his future with the Egyptian national team, which failed to qualify for the World Cup in Qatar later this year. In remarks to his team in a video released by Egypt’s ministry of youth and sports, the 29-year-old forward expressed his pride in the team, “whether I’m here or not.”
In the video, Salah can be seen addressing his teammates in the dressing room following the devastating defeat to Senegal. He had reportedly said, “I told the players yesterday (before the match) that I am proud to have played with them, and that they’re among the best I have played with. There isn’t much to say, but it has been an honour to play with you, whether or not I’m here.”
READ MORE – Senegal vs Egypt: Sadio Mane books World Cup ticket, Mo Salah misses out
While the Egyptian forward has not directly referred to hanging his boots from the national team, but his remarks are being interpreted as a signal that he might be ready to retire from international football. Earlier on Tuesday, Mo Salah and Co. came into this tie after securing a 1-0 lead from the first leg. However, the scoreline was squared at the 4th minute when Hamdi Fathi’s own goal gave Senegal an early second-leg lead.
With nothing to separate the two teams, the match went into a penalty shootout. The first four penalties – two each by both teams – were missed. One of the missed penalties was that of Salah’s spot-kick. As the Egyptian forward prepared to take the penalty, lasers were reportedly pointed all around his face. In the end, Salah skied his penalty over the crossbar, as Senegal went through.
Last month, Sadio Mane scored the decisive penalty as Senegal beat Salah’s Egypt on penalties to lift the 2022 Africa Cup of Nations title in Olembe. Mane had earlier seen a seventh-minute spot-kick saved by Egypt goalkeeper Gabaski.
However, in the shootout, Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy denied Mohanad Lasheen to give Mane the chance to win it at Paul Biya Stadium. The Liverpool striker smashed the ball past Gabaski and into the bottom corner to spark wild Senegal celebrations.
