Hector Cuper, Egypt’s coach, has given his reason why he opted to keep Liverpool star, Mohammed Salah on the bench in Egypt’s opening game against Uruguay yesterday.
He stated that he didn’t field the forward in order to avoid risks in their opening match – Salah is recovering from the shoulder injury he sustained during Liverpool’s 3-1 defeat to Real Madrid in the Champions League final few weeks ago.
Egypt lost 1-0 to Uruguay in their opening group game at the Ekeratinburg Arena on Friday – Jose Jimenez’s 90th minute header gave Uruguay a crucial win over Egypt.
The Argentine coach explained that he expects Salah to be back ahead of their next game against World Cup hosts, Russia.
“Mo Salah is an important player for us but you need to have a good team, and we have a good team,” Hector Cuper stated in his pre-match interview monitored on FIFA.com.
“Salah will have an important role for us in the future matches. We wanted to avoid risks in this match (with Salah), but I think he will be fine for the next game.”
Egypt are currently third in group A and will face hosts, Russia in their next game on Tuesday.
