Mohamed Salah Injured Hamstring, Absent In Egyptian Krutial Match

Egyptian player Mohamed Salah was injured by a hamstring in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (Instagram/@mosalah).

JAKARTA Mohamed Salah is confirmed to miss an important match to determine Egypt's fate in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations against Tanjung Verde due to a hamstring injury.

Egypt is scheduled to play their final Group B match against Tanjung Verde at the Felix Houpouet-Boigny Stadium on Tuesday, January 23, 2024, at 03.00 WIB.

"Testing against Mohamed Salah, captain of the Egyptian national team, proves that he has a hamstring injury and will miss the next two matches in the African Cup of Nations," the Egyptian Football Association said, quoted by the BBC.

Apart from being confirmed absent in crucial clashes, the 31-year-old Liverpool forward will also not appear in the last 16 match if Egypt qualifys.

Therefore, Salah will only appear again in the tournament if Egypt advances to the quarter-finals on February 2, 2024.

Salah received an injury in the match against Ghana which ended in a 2-2 series on Thursday, January 18, 2024. In that match, the former AS Roma limped down before halftime.

The draw resulted that the seven-time African champion had to beat Tanjung Verde, who had already qualified, to guarantee their one place in the knockout stages.

Losing Salah is clearly a big blow to Egypt. Moreover, they have only collected two points from two matches in the group round.

Earlier, on Friday, January 19, 2024, Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp expected Salah's hamstring problem to be severe. This is because the attacker has only missed 10 league games for the Reds in more than six seasons.

"You have a hamstring injury in a different way. He feels it and we know how rarely Salah is absent, or has to be absent. So, this is definitely something (a big one)," he said.