‘Superstar Salah’ puts ‘Liverpool controversy behind him’ with dramatic Egypt winner | OneFootball

Mo Salah has been praised for putting his Liverpool troubles behind him after he scored a last-minute winner for Egypt at the African Cup of Nations.

In a fresh pair of custom Adidas boots declaring him the ‘Egyptian King’, Salah lived up to the name as he scored a stoppage-time goal to give Egypt a 2-1 win over Zimbabwe to begin their AFCON tournament.

After a season of bad press for lacklustre performances, Salah has come in for a lot of praise for his last-minute heroics including from Spanish newspaper AS who said it was “pure drama thanks to superstar Salah.”

Arabic news network Al Jazeera suggested Salah had put the “Liverpool controversy behind him” but did also note he “struggled to find his rhythm for most of the match.”

German newspaper Bild described it as “the Salah show” while Egypt’s biggest newspaper Al-Ahram noted “little influence” from the player for much of the game but praised him for being “decisive at the death.”

As for the player, he posted a picture of himself and the other goalscorer Omar Marmoush under which Erling Haaland commented “Salam brusjans” meaning peace and then a nickname.

Pre-tournament, Egypt boss Hossam Hassan backed Salah to be one of the best players of the tournament as the most successful country searches for their first AFCON trophy since 2010.

“Salah from what I see, is going to be one of the best players in this tournament with (help from) his team-mates and the coaching staff,” he said.

“Salah will continue to be an icon and one of the best players in the world. I support him in every way as do the Egyptian fans.

“Don’t forget that Mohamed Salah needs to win the Africa Cup of Nations by helping himself and helping us, and we can also help him as the staff, as a team, and the fans too.

“I have confidence in Salah and in all the players.

“But I do see that Mohamed Salah in training and with his team-mates [has the enthusiasm] like a player who has just been called up to the national team for the first time.”

At the same time Salah was scoring, Monday Night Football was on British screens with Jamie Carragher on his own in the punditry but a few weeks on from his rant against the Egyptian, the former centre back believes Salah will now stay.

“I think for certain now Mo Salah will be staying at the club,” Carragher said on Sky Sports when discussing possible replacements for the injured Alexander Isak.

“Harvey Elliott, there’s a good chance he would come back from Aston Villa on loan as well. And whether Liverpool go for a striker or another attacking player… for argument’s sake, [Antoine] Semenyo.

“Liverpool have been heavily linked with [him] as well. I think we all know he’s got a buyout clause in January. Then you’ve got wide players as in Salah and [Cody] Gakpo who’ve played a lot of games through the middle as well.”