'King of Egypt', goodbye

Liverpool responded to Jurgen Klopp's call to end his stay on a high as a 4-2 victory over Tottenham further dented Spurs' hopes of a top-four finish on Sunday.

Mohamed Salah was restored to the Reds' starting line-up after his public spat with Klopp last weekend and opened the floodgates.

Andy Robertson, Cody Gakpo and Harvey Elliott were also on target as Liverpool kept their Premier League title hopes mathematically alive.

Richarlison and Son Heung-min replied late on for Tottenham, but the damage to their chances of Champions League football next season was already done.

Klopp's men are guaranteed to finish no lower than third and closed the gap on leaders Arsenal to five points with two games remaining.

Spurs have now lost four consecutive games to leave Ange Postecoglou's men still seven points adrift of fourth-placed Aston Villa with just nine left to play for.

Tottenham realistically need to win all of their three remaining games, including at home to title-chasing Manchester City, to have any hope of reeling in Villa.

But on this form they may even struggle to see off Burnley and Sheffield United as Spurs have collapsed after a highly promising start to Postecoglou's reign.

The Australian admitted after a 2-0 defeat to Chelsea on Thursday that his message was not getting through to his players and there was no reaction from the visitors until it was too late.`

Salah had a war of words with Klopp on the touchline as he prepared to enter as a second-half substitute in a 2-2 draw at West Ham last weekend that sounded the death knell for Liverpool's title ambitions.

They had won just two of their last seven games in all competitions, including just one in their previous five in the league.

Salah's drop off in form since being injured at the Africa Cup of Nations has been a major factor.

But he scored his first goal from open play in nine games to inspire a Liverpool display far more in keeping with the quality showing that had got them into the title race in the first place.

Gakpo's cross to the back post picked out Salah completely unmarked and Guglielmo Vicario's weak hand failed to keep out his header on 16 minutes.

Klopp will take charge at Anfield just one more time when Wolves visit on the final day of the season.

The Liverpool support were keen to savour the occasion as Klopp's name reverberated around the stadium and his players responded by finding their form after a difficult few weeks.

Robertson got the second goal Liverpool's dominance deserved before the break when he tapped in the rebound after Salah's initial effort was parried by Vicario.

Tottenham were just as poor at the start of the second period to take their tally of goals conceded in the last four games to 13.

Gakpo's precise header from Elliott's cross found the bottom corner on 50 minutes.

Elliott then scored the goal of the game when he blasted into the top corner from outside the box.

Postecoglou introduced Richarlison and James Maddison as part of a triple change on the hour mark and the visitors were transformed in the final stages.

Richarlison swept home Brennan Johnson's cross and then teed up Son to score for the fifth consecutive game against Liverpool.

Alisson Becker needed to produce a vital stop from Richarlison to prevent a grandstand finish in seven minutes of added time.

Liverpool's defensive lapses showed why they still need a miracle collapse by Arsenal and Manchester City in the final fortnight of the season to have any chance of ending Klopp's nine-year stay as Premier League champions.

But Tottenham's response was too little, too late to help their ambitions of joining the Reds in the Champions League next season.

Croatia set up a dream final with France as they came from a goal down to beat England 2-1 in a nail-biting semifinal at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow yesterday.

Mario Mandzukic struck the winner in the 109th minute after the game headed into extra time following a 1-1 stalemate in regulation 90 minutes. England defender Kieran Trippier gave the Three Lions a fifth-minute lead with a spectacular free-kick before Ivan Perisic levelled the margin in the 68th minute with a first-time flick into the left-hand corner of the net.

And the moment Turkish referee Cuneyt Cakir blew the final whistle after four minutes of added time, the Croatian players burst into wild celebration for having made it into the final for the first time in their history, leaving England to eat the humble pie 28 years after that gut-wrenching defeat against Germany in Italia '90. 

Despite the defeat, this young England team showed they can play entertaining, fearless and not conventional football. Raheem Sterling, Dele Alli, Jasse Lingard, John Stones and goalkeeper Jordan Pickford, whose brilliance under the bar ended the Three Lions' shootout jinx in the round or 16 against Colombia, were really pushing a seasoned Croatian side into tight corners.

And England needed only five minutes to take the lead through a magnificent free-kick from Trippier, who whipped the ball over the wall and into the top right-hand corner that Croatia goalkeeper Danijel Subasic could only watch. England got the free-kick just outside the box when Luka Modric pulled Alli, who looked ominously poised after being nicely fed by Lingard. It was the Tottenham Hotspur winger's first goal on England shirt.

The early goal fuelled more energy into the England attack, with Sterling making those sprints down the right flank. They won a corner in the 14th minute and it was time for another defender to bury it for a team that had proved to be the most successful side from dead-ball situations in this World Cup. But Harry Maguire headed the ball wide off the mark.

The pace of England attack created all sorts of problems for Croatia's defence and a terrible mispass from Domagoj Vida, who was jeered by his the fans whenever he touched the ball, almost allowed Sterling to score another. But the Manchester City forward killed that opportunity by trying to feed it to Harry Kane, who was offside.

Kane, the Tottenham Hotspur forward and the leading scorer in the World Cup with six goals, had his share of chances in the 30th minute. But his shots were amazingly saved by Subasic. After being nicely set up by Lingard, Kane drove a low sided-footed shot that Subasic partially parried and Kane's second attempt off the rebound from a tight angle hit the post before the ball somehow bounced away after hitting the goalkeeper.

Having survived the early onslaught, Modric finally showed up in the final third as he sent through an overlapping Rebic, who sent a rising shot towards the top left post. But that only allowed Pickford to warm his hands for the first time in the evening.

But the post-lemon session offered a completely different picture, with the Croats coming firing in all cylinders. And it turned into anybody's game after Perisic restored parity in the 68th minute.

It was a reward for constant pressure. Vrsaljko curled in the ball towards the far post that Perisic buried with a first-time flick. Four minutes later, Perisic almost got his second goal but his low shot past Pickford came off the far post. Rebic's shot on the rebound came straight at the young England goalkeeper.

England got a golden opportunity to take the decisive lead in the ninth minute of extra time, but Stone's goal bound header was cleared off the line by Vrsalijko. Few minutes later Pickford made an equally brilliant save at the other end off a Mandzukic shot on a Perisic cross from the right.

But the experienced Juventus striker made no mistake to pounce on a loose ball three minutes into the second half of extra-time. After England failed to clear a high ball down the left, Perisic beat Trippier to a header to the left of the box. Mandzukic was first to get the dropping ball and fired an unstoppable left-footer into the bottom right. And that meant dreamland for Croatia.

If you discount World Cup pedigree, which has actually had little or no bearing in Russia 2018 so far, there is little to choose from between France and Belgium when the two European nations lock horns in the first semifinal at the Saint Petersburg Stadium today.

The weather is very conducive -- not hot like Samara or Kazan. It was actually overcast when the French trained yesterday. And Petersburg is expected to be as cool as 17 degrees Celcius when France will look to keep their World Cup record intact against a Belgian side that has conquered five-time champions Brazil in a hard-fought quarterfinal.

France are a young side. They came into this tournament as the most talented side, which Belgium was bracketed as four years ago in Brazil. The Belgians might have failed to live up to their potential then, when they were eliminated from the quarterfinal stages, but France have showed more maturity in their youth to battle their way past Argentina in the round of 16 before dispatching two-time champions Uruguay 2-0 in the quarterfinal.

Both teams have got the firepower to surprise the other despite the fact that they play almost the same style and their players know each other very well. It will be a golden opportunity for France coach Didier Deschamps to win the title both as a player and manager for the Les Bleus after leading the side to their first-ever World Cup glory in 1998.

However, Belgium have showed the tenacity needed to overcome adversity in this World Cup so far. They came from 2-0 down to beat Japan 3-2 and then kept Brazil at bay to make it to the last four for only the second time since 1986, when they finished third. It was also the year they met France at the biggest stage and lost the position deciding game 4-2.

For Deschamps it will be a challenge to confront his Belgian counterpart Roberto Martinez, who successfully adopted a different formation against Brazil. The French coach however said that he was well aware of that and ready to counter any changes in formation in the game.

Martinez said after the victory against Brazil that it was the best thing that happened for him and his side but yesterday he said that the mission is yet to be accomplished.

“We have a tough game against France. And a win will take us to the final. We will be proud if we can do that,” Martinez told reporters.

Out in the middle, it will be a battle within a battle. It will be Kylian Mbappe's time to take his growing reputation one notch higher after his exploits against Argentina. Belgium's Romelu Lukaku will try to emulate the speed and guile of Mbappe. It will be a classic battle between Antoine Griezmann and Eden Hazard, a clash between Paul Pogba and Kevin De Bruyne, a fight between Vincent Kompany and Raphael Varane.

More importantly, it will be a clash of titanic proportions for the tournament's two most impressive goalkeepers -- Thibaut Courtois and Hugo Lloris.

Four years after the Brazil disappointment, Belgium have matured and that will probably be their biggest strength against a French side who have got more depth in attack and defence. But whoever wins, it promises to be a cracker of a semifinal, even for those who have lost their appetite for the World Cup following the departure of the two South American rivals -- Brazil and Argentina. 

Jurgen Klopp believes Mohamed Salah is ready to wreak more damage on Manchester United in Sunday's FA Cup quarter-final as the Egyptian gets back up to speed after a lengthy hamstring injury.

Salah scored in his first start at club level since January 1 as the Reds thrashed Sparta Prague 6-1 on Thursday to reach the quarter-finals of the Europa League.

With that goal, Salah became the first Liverpool player to score 20 or more goals in seven consecutive seasons.

The 31-year-old has scored more goals against United than any other club, netting 12 times in 13 meetings, and his return is a huge boost to Liverpool's quest for a potential quadruple.

In Klopp's final season in charge, they have already lifted the League Cup and are also tied on points with Arsenal at the top of the Premier League.

And the German is hoping his talisman can prove decisive in the closing months of the season.

"Mo is pure quality and ask him what he likes the most about Manchester United," Klopp told his pre-match press conference on Friday.

"Just an exceptional guy, a world-class player and how we dealt without him is unbelievable. But it is better to have him around and on the pitch than just in the changing room.

"We could build him now with minutes and he is ready for Sunday."

By contrast, United are enduring a miserable second season under Erik ten Hag, with the FA Cup representing their final shot at a trophy.

But they are the only side to have stopped Liverpool scoring this season in a 0-0 draw when the sides met at Anfield in December.

And despite Liverpool enjoying far greater success than their historic rivals during Klopp's time in charge, he has only won on two of his nine visits to Old Trafford.

"It's always a tough place to go for us," said Klopp. "It means everything to both fan groups, we know that. We try to show that on the pitch as well with the work rate but you never know, there are no guarantees."

Liverpool's injury crisis is slowly beginning to clear, with Ibrahima Konate and Ryan Gravenberch in contention to make their return on Sunday.

But Alisson Becker, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Curtis Jones and Diogo Jota remain sidelined until at least after the upcoming international break.

Egypt coach Rui Vitoria on Monday confirmed that the hamstring injury suffered by captain Mohamed Salah at the Africa Cup of Nations would require a longer recovery period than first suggested as the forward prepares to return to Liverpool to undergo treatment.

The Egyptian Football Association announced on Sunday that Salah would go back to England to continue his recovery from the injury suffered in last Thursday's 2-2 draw with Ghana in Ivory Coast.

After initially ruling him out for two games, they said the hope was that the 31-year-old would return for the AFCON semi-finals, should Egypt make it that far.

However, an Egypt team source said they expected him to be out for 10 to 14 days.

Earlier, the player's agent cast doubt even on that prospect in a post on X on Monday, just before the Pharaohs' crucial final Cup of Nations group match against Cape Verde.

"Mohamed's injury is more serious than first thought and he will be out for 21-28 days, and not two games," Ramy Abbas Issa wrote on X.

"His best chance at participating in the current AFCON is by undergoing intensive rehabilitation in the UK and rejoining the team as soon as he is fit."

Speaking after the Cape Verde game, which the Egyptians drew 2-2 to qualify for the last 16 with Salah in attendance, Rui Vitoria said: "I want to take this opportunity to clarify things.

"Mohamed Salah has an injury, which we learned before this game was a longer-term injury than we first thought, so we have had to prolong the amount of time before he can play again."

"Before the game we did not want to say anything. Meanwhile, everything was in the control of our excellent medical team," he said, indicating that it made sense for Salah to go back to Liverpool given the Egyptian squad will now be leaving Abidjan in any case to play a last-16 tie in the city of San-Pedro.

"Given we were going to have to travel, given the temperatures, given that we were going to be going to a different city, maybe it makes sense that Salah should have a place he can go to recover as quickly as possible," he said, while expressing annoyance at Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp.

"We didn't want to alarm anyone. I didn't think it was right for Liverpool, via any intermediary, to speak about this, because we had a tremendously important game today," he said after Klopp suggested on Sunday that Salah would return to Anfield for treatment.

"Salah has always been with us. Now this game is over we will find the best solution for the treatment of the player. These are the facts. This is the situation," said the Egypt coach.