Mohamed Salah determined to lift trophy for Egypt in AFCON final

Mohamed Salah, the Egyptian star footballer, is fixated on experiencing the unique feeling of lifting the Africa Cup of Nations trophy for his country, as Egypt faces Senegal at Yaounde, for the final on Sunday. 

Salah said in a press conference, “It is very special to win a trophy with your country”, as per AFP.  The Liverpool forward continued, “I won the Champions League which was a great feeling, and I won the Premier League after 30 years with my club. I won in Switzerland, I won everywhere, and also I want to have that feeling of winning my first trophy with my country. How special it would be. I am so excited and everyone is ready so hopefully we can win it tomorrow”.

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When the final match plays out at Olembe Stadium, Egypt has history on its side as they hold the record of being seven-time champions. Meanwhile, Senegal is the current favourite, with the top-ranked team in Africa. While they have never lifted the trophy, Senegal has reached the finals twice. 

However, a fair bit of attention has gone to two specific players from these teams – Salah himself, and Sadio Mane. They make up the bulwark of Liverpool’s attack, and this marks the first time that the star forwards are facing each other at an international level since joining the Anfield side. 

Salah said, “It’s great to play against Senegal as a team and also against Sadio. We are going to be rivals and after the game we will be teammates again”.

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He has also rubbished any indication that the team might be fatigued. Salah insisted, “It’s a final. No-one will think about being tired”, before continuing, “If we think about being tired we will remember the people in Egypt and think about making them happy. We train good, we recover good, we eat good, we sleep good. Everybody is happy and fit and excited. If we have to go for 120 (minutes) we will, and if we have to go for 360 we will. Whatever it takes we will to make it happen”.