Salah: Egypt have mental fight on our hands in Afcon bid

Mohamed Salah believes that Egypt’s players have a mental battle on their hands if they’re to overcome Cameroon and reach the Africa Cup of Nations final.

The Liverpool forward scored one and assisted another as the Pharaohs defeated Morocco 2-1 in extra time during Sunday’s North African derby at the Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo in Yaounde, setting up a semi-final clash with hosts Cameroon on January 3.

While the seven-time champions are wary of the physical demands on their team after twice playing extra time in back-to-back knockout games—against the Ivory Coast and Morocco—Salah believes the true challenge will be in the mind.

“Physically, I’m fine, the players are fine, playing two games—240 minutes—in six days is fine, we're young, we’re healthy,” he told GOAL, “but we have to fight with our mind.

“I told the players after 90 minutes that they were brave, very brave, and we gave 100 percent to win the game. The players have given everything in each match.”

Salah equalised for Egypt in the 53rd minute after Sofiane Boufal had given Morocco a seventh-minute lead from the penalty spot, and then turned provider 10 minutes into extra time when he set up Aston Villa wideman Trezeguet for a tap-in.

The forward now takes his tally for the campaign up to two goals in five matches, having earlier bagged the winner in the Pharaohs’ 1-0 victory over Guinea-Bissau, and is looking forward to Egypt’s semi-final against the Indomitable Lions.

“It’s now time to focus on Cameroon,” he continued, “and we take it from there, hopefully we’ll now go on and win it.

“My expectation is that it’s going to be a tough game, that’s for sure, but our coach [Carlos Queiroz] has been working for 40 years, so we have lots of experience [on our side].

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