Salah suffered a hamstring ιnjury in the Egypt – Ghana match in group B of the CAN Cup on January 19. According to the conclusion from the team of doctors, the 31-year-old superstar needs treatment for about a week and the country’s Football Federation decided to let him return to England.
Salah is allowed to return to Liverpool to treat his ιnjury and will only continue to participate in the CAN Cup if the Egyptian team reaches the semi-finals
After 2 matches, Egypt won 2 points, ranked second in Group B but only 1 point ahead of Ghana and Mozambique. Therefore, the encounter with top team Cape Verde (6 points) will greatly affect their chances of progressing.
On the other hand, EFA affirms that Salah can still continue to participate in the 2023 CAN Cup if Egypt reaches the semi-finals (scheduled to take place on February 8). This information was later confirmed by Liverpool on the home page.
“After carrying out additional tests on Mohamed Salah over the past few hours, in addition to discussions between the national team medical team and Salah’s medical team at Liverpool, we have decided that He will return to England after the Cape Verde match to complete his treatment. Hopefully Salah will join the national team in participating in the CAN Cup semi-finals if we qualify,” excerpts from EFA’s announcement.
Responding to the media after the Bournemouth – Liverpool match in round 21 of the Premier League (Liverpool won 4-0), coach Jurgen Klopp revealed: “That is the plan, I don’t know if this plan has been approved.
No matter how long Salah is out, everyone feels it makes sense for him to carry out his recovery with us. I spoke directly with Salah right after the match against Ghana. Since then, he has been in regular contact with Liverpool’s medical team.”
However, when talking about the possibility of Salah returning to the CAN Cup with the Egyptian team, the German coach said that his beloved student can only fully recover before the tournament final: “I am not a doctor. However, I think he can return if he is healthy and Egypt qualifies for the final.
Obviously the CAN Cup is a prestigious tournament, but we don’t have people there. The responsibility of taking care of the players belongs to the team doctors, so let’s see what happens.”