Salah should not have played from the start, Shehata

CAIRO – 21 June 2018: Former Egypt national team manager, Hassan Shehata, believes that current national team manager, Hector Cuper, took the wrong decision when he picked Mohamed Salah to be in the starting line-up against Russia.

“Cuper should have kept Salah beside him on the bench and used him at the last 30 minutes of the game to exploit Russia’s rush to attack and win,” Shehata told DMC sports after the game.

Salah, who missed the opening game against Uruguay as he failed to recover from his shoulder injury, started the game against Russia.

pic.twitter.com/tIPLJ2kdLe

— Egypt National Football Team (@Pharaohs) June 19, 2018

The winger failed to shine and lead the national team to achieve their first victory in the tournament as Egypt lost 3-1 to the hosts, with Salah scoring Egypt’s only goal from a penalty.

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Gooooooooal #محمد_صلاح ⚽️🇪🇬#RUS 3 - 1 #Egy#الفراعنة #ThePharaohs #RUSEGY pic.twitter.com/jgwFENJvLo

— Egypt National Football Team (@Pharaohs) June 19, 2018

Shehata added “Salah is not fit and his training over the past period was like a recuperation.”

The loss to Russia left Egyptian fans disappointed as they were hoping to achieve their first victory ever in the history of the tournament and take a step towards reaching the second round.

Egypt will play their last game of the group stage on Monday against their Arab rivals, Saudi Arabia.