Egypt coach Louis Vitoria has been sacked after Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah was ruled out of the Africa Cup of Nations. Mohamed Salah has said goodbye to former Egypt coach Louis Vitoria after he was sacked following a disappointing Africa Cup of Nations win. Egypt were eliminated, but DR Congo lost on penalties and, after an early exit, the Pharaohs announced the resignation of Victoria.
It comes after Salah criticized Egypt manager Jurgen Klopp for picking up injuries during the tournament. Salah has returned to Liverpool for treatment after picking up a thigh injury against Ghana. He decided, however, that he would reunite with his colleagues if he reached the finals of the competition.
He said: “We didn’t want to disturb anyone. Because we played a very important game today, I thought it would be wrong for Liverpool to talk about it through an intermediary. Salah was always with us. Now that the game is over, let’s find the best solution to heal the player. This is true.
This is the situation. “We didn’t want to say anything before the game. Meanwhile, everything was in the hands of our excellent medical staff.” Klopp later apologized to Vitoria, but it was all moot as Egypt could not make the case for Salah’s return for long. Vitoria became Egypt’s coach in July 2022 and plans to stay in action beyond the 2026 World Cup after winning 12 of 14 matches ahead of the Africa Cup of Nations.
However, he lost his job and was temporarily replaced by former Al Ahly coach Mohamed Youssef. Salah’s last game in charge of Vitoria ended in a 2-2 draw against Ghana, with the Liverpool forward picking up a thigh injury before half-time.
After hearing the news that Vitoria had lost their place, Salah posted on Instagram: “Thank you coach for everything. “I hope your future is filled with only good things.”
Liverpool’s next game is against Burnley in the Premier League next Saturday. Salah has stepped up his recovery from injury this week but is not expected to feature at Anfield.
Liverpool will also face Brentford in the Carabao Cup final against Chelsea at Wembley later this month. I hope Salah can play in this match.
Salah’s injury story has caused plenty of problems on and off the pitch and both Liverpool and Egypt would be keen to follow in his footsteps.
Klopp admitted the details of the injury should not be made public, but Salah is his player and Liverpool are entitled to ask questions. The focus now is to get him back on the pitch.
