Mohamed Salah Injury Update: Egypt Coach Optimistic About World Cup Participation

Egypt coach Hector Cuper is hopeful Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah will feature in the World Cup this summer despite a shoulder injury.

Salah left the pitch in tears as a collision to the ground with Sergio Ramos saw him clutch his shoulder in pain before being substituted early on in the first half of Liverpool's 3-1 defeat to Real Madrid in the Champions League final late last month.

While there were fears as to what this meant for Salah's World Cup participation, with the tournament starting June 14, it was expected the 25-year-old, who scored 44 goals in 52 games last season, would participate in Russia.

However, Salah will miss the build-up to the event as he was absent for Egypt's 0-0 friendly draw with Colombia in Italy on Friday. Cuper revealed after the game that while everyone was optimistic about his chances, they will prepare for a scenario without Salah on the pitch.

"We are optimistic, and every medical report says he will make it," Cuper said, as quoted on FourFourTwo. "But we still have to prepare for any situation that could happen before we start."

Egypt noticeably struggled against the Colombia without their leading goalscorer and had to withstand heavy pressure from the 2014 World Cup quarterfinalists who had 69 percent possession and 17 shots.

Cuper acknowledged afterward replacing Salah is not an easy task, especially considering the form he had been in over the course of the recently concluded 2017/2018 season.

"Salah is not easy to replace, no doubt about that," he added."He is a weapon for us, especially on counter-attack, making use of his speed and his quality. That's why today we struggled in our attacking performance. We tried to compensate that with some team playing, but as I said in the second half we lacked stamina because we have a special condition … for religious reasons, players don't drink nor eat anything, and we actually felt that."

"We tried to manage it using the whole team so it could try to respond better. We sprinted very well, because it was not easy to recover the ball."

Egypt will face Belgium in another friendly Wednesday before kicking off their World Cup campaign against Group A favorites Uruguay on June 15.

The African side are favored to qualify from the group, which also features hosts Russia and Saudi Arabia. However, their progress mainly hinges on the presence of Salah, who helped them qualify for their first World Cup since 1990.

Meanwhile, Ramos reportedly received death threats for his part in Salah's injury and had to change his phone number along with his family, according to reports in Spain.

Liverpool physio Ruben Pons, however, does not believe Salah is angry with the Spaniard as it was an accidental challenge.

"I don’t think he is angry with him. It was an accidental challenge," Pons said. "We knew that it was something serious as soon as he fell on the ground because he never complains.

"We feared the worst. He is sad about what happened, but is totally focused on his recovery and seeing when he can be ready."