Egypt v Zimbabwe LIVE – Mohamed Salah starts as seven-time champions begin Africa Cup of Nations campaign

HASSAN: ‘THERE WILL BE SOME DIFFERENCES’

Egypt head coach Hossam Hassan had his say on the fallout between Liverpool and Mohamed Salah.

Salah spoke about being “thrown under the bus” by his club and was subsequently left out of the squad which claimed a 1-0 win over Internazionale in the UEFA Champions League.

He since returned from the bench for The Reds, providing an assist for Hugo Ekitike’s second goal in a 2-0 win over Brighton on December 13.

“Before I saw him, we were in constant contact on the phone,” said Hassan in a press conference.

“Any football player in the world knows that at some point there will be some differences of opinion with the club’s coaching staff.

“But the communication is open between me and him all the time.

“When he joined us at our training camp, he felt a very high ambition.

“This kind of situation has happened at one point when I first took this position, around a year or just shy of two years ago.

“Mohamed Salah at one stage had some issues (with his club), but when he gets to the national team he gets back on his feet because he finds himself with his national team and his team-mates here.

“Then he comes back better than before, and you will notice that, when he leaves the national team after helping us win and scoring goals, he goes back to Liverpool and performs better.”