Egypt forward Mohamed Salah told Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi he was well on the road to recovery following a shoulder injury in the Champions League final and he reiterated those comments in an interview with Marca yesterday. The Liverpool player, who hit a stunning 44 goals for Liverpool last season in all competitions, was forced out of the May 26 Champions League final in tears clutching his left shoulder after being wrestled to the ground by Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos. In the interview, he speaks about that injury, Ramos and Egypt's World Cup campaign. The excerpts are below:
ON HIS INJURY:
Now I'm better. I hope to play the first game against Uruguay, but that will depend on how I feel when it approaches. It was the worst moment in my career [leaving the pitch in Kiev].
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. When I fell to the ground, I had a mixture of physical pain and a lot of worry. Also anger and sadness for not being able to continue playing the Champions League final. Moments later, I also thought about the possibility of not playing in the World Cup and that was a devastating thought.
ON SERGIO RAMOS:
I don't know. Maybe [it was normal]? I saw the play well, he grabs me first by the arm and I fall to the other side, in fact he injures the other arm. It's funny. My comment is that it's always okay when the one who made you cry first, then makes you laugh. Maybe he could also tell me if I'm going to be ready for the World Cup? He [Ramos] sent me a message, but I never told him it was okay.
What it means to qualify for the World Cup:
It's the first time in 28 years that we qualified... It was not normal because we won the African Cup seven times, and we were champions in 2006, 2008 and 2010. It was common to win the African Cup, but we didn't qualify for the World Cup. And it was something we all said: 'wow, we have to do it, we have to do it.' We had not achieved it for a long time and it was something very special. Maybe like for Spain to win the World Cup.
ON EGYPT'S GOAL AND HIS OWN:
I think we have a great team and a great coach [Hector Cuper], we want to qualify for the next round and do well. [Personally I want to] Just to help the team to qualify and score goals, but mainly try to help the team do better in matches.
ON THE PRESSURE FROM SUPPORTERS:
The pressure was to qualify for the World Cup. Of course, someone can now say 'ok, we've qualified, that's it'. But for me it's not like that, we want to make history, achieve something different. In my head the pressure is to achieve something different from what we have done. Not just going there, three games and thank you very much. That doesn't go through my head.
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