AGADIR,Morocco: Mohamed Salah praised Egypt’s fighting spirit after describing their dramatic 3-2 victory over defending champions Ivory Coast as a “perfect win” that booked a place in the Africa Cup of Nations semi-finals on Saturday.
The Liverpool forward scored Egypt’s decisive third goal as Hossam Hassan’s side edged a tight contest to end Ivory Coast’s title defence. In doing so, Salah set a new AFCON record by scoring against 11 different national teams at the tournament.
Egypt will next face Senegal in Tangier on Wednesday, a high-stakes semi-final that repeats the 2021 AFCON final.
“It was a perfect win, but as I said before, we are fighting for our country,” Salah told CAF’s media channel. “Hopefully we go through the next game as well. It’s against a tough opponent, but we will give our best.”
Salah also equalled manager Hassan’s AFCON goal tally of 11 and is now just one strike away from matching Hassan El-Shazly as Egypt’s all-time leading scorer in the competition.
Despite the victory, the 33-year-old played down Egypt’s status as favourites. “We are not 100 percent the favourites,” he said, pointing to strong squads from Nigeria, Morocco and Senegal. “Most of our players play in the domestic league, but we are trying our best because we love our country.”
