With Egypt ahead 2-0, the referee gave a free-kick, but before it was taken, Djibouti’s defender Aboubakar Abdi stood over the ball, trying to block it for unclear reasons. ..Continue Reading
Liverpool star Salah, clearly annoyed, promptly shoved Abdi to the ground with both hands. The Liverpool star avoided a booking, and he finished the match with two goals in Egypt’s 3-0 win.
The win kept Egypt’s five-point lead at the top of their World Cup qualifying group. With only one match left, Egypt’s place at next summer’s tournament is guaranteed.
Ibrahim Adel opened the scoring for Egypt, and Salah scored the away team’s second and third goals in the game.
Salah’s first goal was a neat finish at the goalkeeper’s near post, and the second was even more impressive, as he latched onto a lofted through ball and produced a first-time lob volley to round off the scoring.
The match was held in the Moroccan city of Casablanca, because Djibouti’s home stadium is not FIFA-approved.
Salah’s goals were his 60th and 61st for Egypt, coming in his 106th senior appearance for his country. With this, his goal tally puts him at the top of Egypt’s all-time top scorer standings, and he will soon break into the top 10 for appearances made too.
Egypt did not qualify for the 2022 World Cup, so next summer’s tournament will just be the second World Cup that Salah has played in.
Salah did make two appearances at the 2018 World Cup, but he struggled due to the shoulder injury he sustained as a result of the infamous incident involving Sergio Ramos in the Champions League final just weeks earlier.
Speaking in 2019, Salah recalled: “I went to play in the World Cup, it’s a dream, but I’m not fit. I’d go to my room, I was almost crying every day. Before the first game, when I didn’t play, I was in the bus and I was crying on the bus.
“I went to the bathroom and I was crying in the bathroom. Because I wanted to start the game! I want to play! But I know I am not fit at all to play. In one moment that disappeared. It was so difficult, so difficult.”
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