Mohamed Salah is off to the African Cup of Nations, and it’s fair to say that he’ll be desperate to win this competition this time around.
At the age of 31, Salah won’t have too many more chances to win AFCON, and coming into this tournament, he’ll want to make an impact.
Speaking on the BBC Radio Five Live Football Daily Podcast, Sol Bamba has been previewing the tournament, and he’s been discussing the idea that Salah plays with less of an ego when he plays for his country.
As many of us will know, Salah has been accused of being greedy and being a bit selfish in the past for Liverpool, but there’s this perception that he’s slightly more reserved when playing for Egypt.
However, according to Bamba, that isn’t the case, claiming that he still carries this big ego with Egypt and he’s ultimately determined to win.
Bamba spoke about the £34m man.
“Back to Salah then Sol, I get the impression he leaves his ego at the door when he plays for Egypt, it’s not like that with him?” Bamba was asked.
“No, I don’t think that’s the case for him, people say he’s got no ego when he plays for Egypt, but he’s actually got a lot of it, let me tell you. Every great champion has an ego and when he plays for Egypt he wants to win, and like Seb said, he pust the emphasis on other players to make sure everyone is together, but, unfortunately, he hasn’t got over the line. I feel sorry for him because he’s given a lot but it hasn’t worked out for him,” Bamba said.
Star man
It’s not surprising at all to hear that Salah does carry an ego with him with Egypt.
Salah can be a bit egotistical at Liverpool at times, and that’s’ when he’s surrounded by world-class players.
With all due respect to the Egypt team, their players are nowhere near as good as Liverpool’s so a lot more is expected of Salah, and if you’re going to be the main man for a team in a tournament like this, you need to have a bit of an ego.
