Egypt star Mohamed Salah, who suffered a shoulder injury in Liverpool’s Champions League final defeat to Real Madrid last month, seemingly putting his participation in the World Cup finals in doubt, will not start his side’s World Cup opener today.
Despite reports – supported by coach Hector Cuper – that the former Roma man had made a swift recovery and would start, the Liverpool star whose 26th birthday also falls today, will not make the starting line-up against Uruguay in Yekaterinburg. There is also no room in the Egypt line-up for 45-year-old goalkeeper Essam El-Hadary, who is looking to become the oldest player in finals history at Russia 2018.