At the African Cup of Nations (AFCON), it is an unwritten rule that the manager and captain sit side by side on the eve of their team’s opening game, give opening remarks, and then answer questions from the press.
At the African Cup of Nations (AFCON), it is an unwritten rule that the manager and captain sit side by side on the eve of their team’s opening game, give opening remarks, and then answer questions from the press.
But in recent years, Egypt has taken a different approach to the summit. For the 2024 tournament, Portuguese coach Rui Vitoria was replaced by Mohamed El-Shennawy, the team’s oldest player.
To some extent this was in keeping with tradition, as in Egypt captains were always selected based on cap, rather than talent or influence.
Mohamed Salah was officially appointed captain of the Egyptian national team in 2021, having first tasted the role two years earlier, but that in itself was a break from the past, as the next captain was Ahmed Fathy, a then 35-year-old right-back who played three games for Sheffield United in 2007.
Former West Bromwich Albion defender Ahmed Hegazy was also higher up in the pecking order, but Salah was chosen because he had emerged as the most famous footballer in the country’s history.
Salah was quickly given the authority to make his own decisions regarding certain responsibilities and did not appear before the press in Abidjan until the final group game, as results were needed for Egypt to move forward.
However, Salah was unable to play due to injury, which made the indoor momentum extremely abnormal. It was already decided at that point that he would return to England to speed up his recovery, but it only became clear hours later, after Liverpool’s win over Bournemouth, that manager Jurgen Klopp revealed exactly what had happened.
The situation became tricky for Salah as Liverpool appeared to be in control. One of Salah’s fiercest critics was Hossam Hassan, the current coach of the Egyptian national team and then a pundit, who suggested that Salah should not return to Ivory Coast even if he miraculously regained his strength before the end of the tournament. “There are people here who will do the job,” he braced himself.
Now Hassan has to work with Salah and appears to be taking a more diplomatic route. It was not Salah but former Aston Villa winger Trezeguet who was sitting next to him in Agadir ahead of Egypt’s 2025 AFCON opener against Zimbabwe, but that didn’t seem to be a problem.
As for Egypt, Salah gets pretty much what he wants, speaks when he wants, the world revolves around him, and everyone accepts it. Perhaps it reflects why he thinks he can occasionally stomp his feet at Liverpool, and explains why Hassan, in a slightly more subservient mood – at least publicly – announced on Sunday: “Salah is one of the best players in AFCON and will always be an icon and one of the best players in the world…”
Egypt were trying to find a way to get past Zimbabwe, who finished in the bottom of the World Cup qualifying group of six by a small margin after participating in AFCON. Despite losing twice to Lesotho, they took points from Nigeria and South Africa, but this was a thin warning that things might not be easy for Egypt.
Salah started a game for the first time since Liverpool humiliated PSV 4-1 at home at the end of November. He has since been temporarily alienated from the club after suggesting he had been “thrown under the bus” after not being selected in the first three games following the defeat, and was furious at the time when he claimed he no longer had a relationship with head coach Arne Slott.
His and Egypt’s performance followed a similar pattern to the opening round of this tournament almost two years ago. Within the first 10 minutes, Salah produced two crosses into the box that should have allowed his teammates to score. Egypt played some attractive football, but then Zimbabwe scored a goal.
Unlike two years ago, not every play went through Salah. If he had the sense, he might realize that even star players can be more effective with fewer touches. It helps that he now has quality people around him, with Manchester City’s Omar Marmouche someone he can trust to handle the ball and make things happen. Marmouche was the scorer when Egypt scored the equalizing goal.
It was starting to feel like it wasn’t an ideal start for Egypt, who will face South Africa, who beat Angola, in their next match. Egypt did not run all over Zimbabwe after winning 1-1, but their patience was rewarded when the ball fell to Salah in stoppage time. From there, he reminded everyone of who he was.
Mohamed Salah scores Egypt’s winning goal against Zimbabwe Credit: Franck Fife/AFP via Getty Images
According to Hassan, winning AFCON is a “need” for Salah to achieve. Next summer he will turn 34, the age at which Lionel Messi won his first international tournament, the Copa America, with Argentina. While his lack of success on the international stage at that point in his career didn’t detract from his greatness, Messi knew that without that validation it would affect his memory.
A year later, Messi won the World Cup, but while Salah is unlikely to match that, this puts further pressure on his performance in the coming weeks, especially after CAF president Patrice Motsepe revealed last weekend that the competition will be held every four years instead of every two years from 2028. With elections scheduled in Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda, there are doubts whether they can be held in 2027, and after Morocco, Salah may only have one chance to realize Egypt’s hopes.
In Egypt, Salah will be evaluated against the achievements of the team that won three consecutive AFCON titles from 2006 to 2010 but failed to qualify for the World Cup, and the team that participated just before that, something Salah has achieved twice. The team was about to disband as Salah was about to start a career caught up in an unprecedented modern turbulent period for Egypt.
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Sky Sports’ Jamie Carragher says Alexander Isak’s suspected leg fracture will be a huge blow to Liverpool, but adds that Mohamed Salah is unlikely to leave the club in January.
Westerners still tend to see Egypt through the splendor of the pyramids and the romance of the Nile. However, after his professional debut with Arab Contractors, something happened that had a huge impact on the country in all aspects, especially the development of football and the emotions surrounding it.
A revolution broke out in 2011, overthrowing the 30-year-old authoritarian regime. It overhyped soccer to cover up its own shortcomings, ultimately causing the public to become cynical about the purpose of the sport.
Just over a year later, a stadium disaster occurred in Port Said in which 74 spectators lost their lives, leading to the suspension of the league and fans being banned from stadiums indefinitely.
Given this background, it is perhaps understandable that Egypt failed to qualify for the AFCON for the third time in a row.
Salah will need to tread carefully, as Egypt has been led by another authoritarian leader since 2014. The fact that he has avoided trouble despite having so much influence shows that he has a filter. But unlike Mohamed Aboutrika, the country’s soccer hero who has lived in exile in Qatar for almost a decade because of his political beliefs, the country knows that the same influence extends beyond Egypt’s borders.
Although his name has never been a big deal outside of North Africa and the Middle East, Salah has juggled the two worlds well and, as he is the first footballer from this country, must be treated with kindness. Sometimes I wonder if Liverpool – the fans, the manager, the players and the club as a whole – really understand what they are dealing with. Because there is no standard for comparison.
Kenny Dalglish and Steven Gerrard are generally regarded as their best players. Both have some significance for Liverpool as an institution and as a city, but they are not representative of the country’s image. Unlike Salah, it does not represent a region that spans two continents. They are not representative of any religion. Not even Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo can claim this. If Salah has a sense of otherness, which makes him difficult to empathize with, it’s because there has never been anyone like him.
This article was originally published in The Athletic.
