Mohamed Salah celebrated his 26th birthday with a Chechen cake and the news that he will play in Egypt's next World Cup match.
Mohamed Salah celebrated his 26th birthday with a Chechen cake and the news that he will play in Egypt's next World Cup match.
A statement from the Egyptian soccer association gave no details about his fitness except that the Liverpool striker participated fully in training on Saturday in Grozny, the team's base in Russia's Chechnya region.
Salah injured his left shoulder in the Champions League final last month, putting his World Cup in doubt. He was an unused substitute in Egypt's 1-0 loss to Uruguay on Friday, which was co-incidentally his birthday.
"(His) condition is so much better. He was very upset after the Uruguay game. He thought he could have played and made a contribution,” Egypt executive director Ihab Leheta said on Saturday.
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 analyze 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.
Fans and Chechnya's leadership tried to cheer him up, presenting Salah with a giant birthday cake. Salah smiled as he sang "Happy Birthday" with his teammates, team officials and hotel staff, but the brief celebration was visibly subdued and not everyone joined in.
"We could have celebrated more," Leheta said, alluding to the loss to Uruguay. The brief celebration took place upon the team's arrival back in their Grozny hotel after the flight from Yekaterinburg, where they played their opening match.
A video clip showed a cake coated in the colors of the Egyptian and Chechnya flags sitting on a table in the team's hotel lobby. Perched atop the cake was what appeared to be a replica of the golden boot won by Salah as the Premier League's top scorer this season.
Egypt faces host Russia in St. Petersburg on Tuesday, and then takes on Saudi Arabia on June 25.
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