Egypt’s coach says Mohamed Salah sits alongside Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo when it comes to leaving a lasting legacy in football.
Rui Vitoria is in the fortunate position of working alongside the Liverpool superstar as the Pharaohs count down the days to another bid for Africa Cup of Nations glory. Despite what he achieved at club level – winning the Premier League and the Champions League – Salah never won a continental crown with his country.
He has at least one more chance to improve on that, as Vitoria tells the Record how Salah will be remembered alongside today’s greats: “Salah is very important in our national team. And those players who are characters in the world are actually very important to the various teams they represent. We remember Messi, we remember Cristiano Ronaldo, we remember Salah, maybe Neymar, [Kylian] Mbappe. Great teams have such a player. And our Salah brings great positivity to the whole group. You can feel the positive energy transmitted. You can also feel the team’s pride in such a player. And the daily impact those players have is huge. And sometimes they don’t even have that idea. But they increase the level of demand. And when I say demand, I mean demand from everyone. All coaches, colleagues, structures that must be at a high level to monitor the performance of these players as well. And this is a very big challenge even for Egypt. To get these types of players, we all need to raise our talent level. But they are decisive.”
Regarding Salah’s contributions to the Egyptian team, Vitoria said, “Salah is a player I adore on the pitch and I love off the pitch. because he exemplifies what a player, in my opinion, should be. Extremely humble, amiable, and full of life. a fierce dedication to his line of work. always thinking about the team and your coworkers. And that gives me a lot of satisfaction. He is a pivotal player, which is why I’m delighted we have him.
Salah has 91 appearances for Egypt and has contributed to 51 goals and 29 assists, guiding them to the 2018 World Cup finals. Since the summer transfer rumors were put to rest, he has been in excellent form for Liverpool. He has scored six goals and contributed four assists thus far in the 2023–24 season.
