Egypt captain Mohamed Salah has encouraged his teammates to step up their performance for their final Group B game against Cape Verde at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.
Salah is nursing a hamstring injury he picked up against Ghana on Thursday and he will miss the Pharaohs’ clash against leaders Blue Sharks at the Felix Houphouet Boigny Stadium on Monday.
The Liverpool forward will also miss Egypt’s round of 16 game as he is expected to return to action if they make it into the quarter-final stage.
Egypt need a win against leaders Cape Verde to guarantee their place in the knock-out stage as they sit second in Group B with two points after two games – four points behind Cape Verde.
Salah told a press conference on Sunday: “Well, I see that I am not available for the next match.
“I hope for those that are available and that is what we said after the last game that those in the next game to put on a good show and to try and help the team win. That is the most important thing.
“This is the Egyptian national team and not Salah’s team. Salah is just one of 27 players in the squad. I am optimistic and the rest of the players are optimistic too.
“We all spoke with each other and hopefully we can win the game tomorrow which is the most important thing.”
Monday’s encounter will be the first international outing between Egypt and Cape Verde.
The Pharaohs are chasing their first AFCON title since 2010, and they finished as runners-up in the 201 edition in Cameroon.
Salah also commented on the level of football development in Africa with results at the ongoing AFCON becoming unpredictable.
He said: “You see the levels are very close from each other – all the teams. You go to the game and you don’t know who is going to win. Like now, we are not first in the group. So it’s really tricky. It’s very tricky.
“The football is improving a lot. The players (are) playing in Europe a lot. Players playing at a big level. So, I think African football is improving a lot. You can see also in the World Cup, we went so far with Morocco and all of Africa was behind them. So, I think it’s improving a lot.”
