Mohamed Salah, captain of the Egyptian national team and star of Liverpool FC, expressed his great happiness with the valuable victory achieved by the Pharaohs against the Benin national team, in the match that brought the two teams together as part of the round of 16 competitions of the African Cup of Nations, which was held at the “Adrar” stadium in the Kingdom of Morocco.
The "Egyptian Pharaoh" contributed directly to his country's team's passage to the quarter-finals, as he scored a wonderful goal in the match that ended with Egypt winning three goals to one, confirming the Egyptian team's determination to move forward towards regaining the continental title that has been absent from its trophy cabinet for years.
Salah's statements on the development of African football
In statements made via the official broadcaster of the tournament after the final whistle, Mohamed Salah said: "I am very happy with what the Egyptian national team players presented during the Benin match. The spirit was high and the focus was present, and we will continue to work hard to compete for the title and make the Egyptian fans happy.".
Speaking about the level of competition in the tournament, Salah added: “There was no huge difference between the two teams today, and this is a characteristic of the tournament in its current edition. There is no big difference between the teams, and African football has developed amazingly, as the technical and physical differences have become very small between the major teams and the teams that were previously classified as small.”.
Salah’s statement reflects a tangible reality in the African continent, where recent years have witnessed a qualitative leap in the performance of emerging teams, thanks to the professionalism of their players in various European leagues, which has made it more difficult to predict match results and made the competition for the title more fierce and complex.
An interesting comparison between Egypt and Morocco
In a related context, and in response to a question about the reason behind the technical differences that sometimes appear between the Moroccan and Egyptian national teams, Mohamed Salah made a very controversial and frank statement, attributing the matter to the nature of the formation of the two teams.
Salah said, "The reason behind this is that the vast majority of our players play in the domestic league, and that's the main difference." The Pharaohs' captain's statement highlights the gap in exposure and competitive level between players who ply their trade in major European leagues—a strategy heavily relied upon by the Moroccan national team—and those who depend primarily on domestic players, as is the case with the Egyptian national team.
This statement opens the door to broad technical discussions about the future of Egyptian football and the need to increase the number of professionals abroad to reduce the gap with elite global and African teams that rely on their expatriate players, especially in light of the high levels presented by teams that have a wide base of professionals.
It is worth noting that the Egyptian national team seeks, through this tournament, to compensate for its previous failures and return to the podium, relying on the experience of its captain Mohamed Salah and the enthusiasm of the rest of the players to overcome the upcoming obstacles in the knockout stages.
