Salah suffers injury at AFCON: How long will he be out?

In Thursday’s 2-2 tie in AFCON between Egypt and Ghana, skipper Mohamed Salah was substituted out just before halftime due to an injury.

As time ran down in the first half, Egypt took a major hit when the winger fell after touching the ball and instantly indicated he couldn’t keep playing.

After holding his left leg, the superstar limped off the field, suffering from a hamstring injury. Ahmed Hegazi, a defender, took over as captain, while Mostafa Fathi came in as a substitute.

It was game over for Salah, and in the worst-case scenario, the Africa Cup of Nations as a whole. Interestingly, the 31-year-old has yet to win the tournament, so he may be eliminated from it altogether.

Shortly after Salah was substituted, Mohammed Kudus of Ghana scored, and the game took a dramatic turn. Kudus scored again just two minutes after Omar Marmoush leveled the score for Egypt in the 69th minute. In the 74th minute, Mostafa Mohamed scored to tie the game at two goals each.

What did the Egypt coach say?

The news has caused worry among supporters of his national team and Liverpool over his availability for upcoming important fixtures.

Official word on the injury has not yet come from the Egyptian Football Association (EFA). After the game, Egypt’s coach Rui Vitoria said that the severity of the injury was uncertain: “I think it is not dangerous, but let’s see.”

Despite smiling and walking without trouble, Salah himself chose not to stop and talk to the media after the game. Even some Ghanaian spectators erupted in cheers when the tournament’s most famous player departed the field.

What did Jurgen Klopp say?

Even Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp admitted to speaking with his player, but he had no further information to provide.

“We don’t know anything. I spoke last night with him and how it is with these injuries, you need further assessment. That’s what they are doing now and then we will know more. Of course, it was in that moment a shock: ‘Oh my God, what is it?’

“You couldn’t see that it was like [being] hit by something with high-intensity, you couldn’t see [that] and then going down, you have these kind of hamstring injuries in a different way but he still felt it and we all know how rarely Mo goes off or needs to go off so there is definitely something and we will see.

“But I have no more information right now.”

In response to a question about whether Liverpool would send their doctors to assess Salah, the manager said: “We will see, that depends on the diagnosis. There will be an ultrasound and they will do an MRI and then we will know what it is and then we will see what Egypt plans. But it’s too early [to say], sorry.”

Salah won’t participate in Egypt’s last group match against Cape Verde on Monday. Even if the injury is only soreness in his hamstring. Being the third-best team in Group B, they will need a point from this match to advance.

Salah will have to sit out a lot more time if his hamstring is torn. For both Liverpool and Egypt, who have been without a tournament victory since 2010, it might spell disaster.

PHOTOS: IMAGO.