Mo Salah trained with his Egypt teammates in Dallas on Thursday, moving freely after a hamstring strain, but it remains unclear whether he will start Saturday’s World Cup last-32 match against Australia or come off the bench.
Egypt coach Hossam Hassan confirmed his “passionate” forward was fit enough to play, but added: “We look forward to him playing tomorrow, though we are not sure whether he is going to be in the starting lineup.” Salah was forced off with half an hour to go in Egypt’s final group match against Iran before qualification was assured – a hamstring strain similar to the one he suffered for Liverpool in April. He has made a swift recovery and was seen training freely, scoring once and setting up two more in the group stage to move to 68 international goals, one behind Hassan as the country’s all-time leading scorer.
“Salah trained and is fit but may not start against Australia in World Cup knockout; Popovic says Australia prepared for both scenarios.”
Australia coach Tony Popovic said his side had prepared for both scenarios. “We feel relaxed, we feel confident,” he said. “We have prepared for Salah playing, we’ve seen when he’s not on the pitch the players in those positions where he may play. So we’ve prepared for both scenarios and we’ll see tomorrow.”
Hassan was repeatedly asked about how his team would handle the tall, physical Australian side, captained by 1.98-metre defender Harry Souttar. He dismissed the notion that height gave Australia an advantage. “Maradona wasn’t the tallest of players, Messi isn’t that tall either,” he said. “It’s not about being tall or short, we have physical players … We’re not playing rugby here, we’re playing football – not American football – we’re playing football, and we’re ready to go.”
Egypt secured second place in Group G behind Belgium, who beat Senegal on Wednesday to reach the last 16. The match in Dallas kicks off a knockout tie that pits the Socceroos against one of the tournament’s most feared forwards – but whether Salah starts or sits, Australia insist they are ready.