After missing out on Europe’s top individual award, Salah is again pitted against the two, and others for world’s most prestigious personal honour. Mohamed Salah, Cristiano Ronaldo and Luka Modric are equals, according to Egypt coach Javier Aguirre. Salah’s impressive debut season at Liverpool received many plaudits as well as accolades, including 2017-18 Premier League Player of the Year
Weeks ago, the Champions League finalist was beaten to Uefa Men’s Best Player of the Year by Modric, with Ronaldo coming second. And the trio, with other nominees, are up again for Fifa’s The Best 2018 men’s player award.
The Pharaohs new coach sees them as equals, and hopes Salah becomes the second African player ever to lift the prestigious award.
“I think that the three players are equal, none of them is above the other, but there can be only one winner. Hopefully, it’ll be Salah,” Aguirre told EFE.
This season, Salah, who broke the Premier League record with 32 goals, has barely kicked on from his awe-inspiring debut campaign at Liverpool.
But his national team coach believes it is a phase not strange to prolific goalscorers like Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
“This is just the beginning. The scorers go through streaks, suddenly they score three goals in one match.
“Scorers like Salah, Ronaldo or (Lionel) Messi can be three or four games without a netting goal, and then they let go.”
Salah and his Liverpool teammates open their Uefa Champions League campaign with a clash against Paris Saint-Germain at Anfield on Tuesday evening.
Besides Salah, Aguirre said he appreciates the players in Egyptian league have “a very good technical level,” although he complained that the country’s hot weather “doesn’t help them keep the rhythm high for 90 minutes.”
He also said it was unfortunate that some Egypt players signed to European clubs “have no chance to play” with their teams, although he added that playing abroad helps them evolve.
On his triumphant debut as Egypt’s coach, defeating Niger 6-0 on September 8, Aguirre said it “turned out nicely” and that he intends to continue with the same approach.
“I will do my best to make Egypt play soccer well and give its people joy,” he asserted. “I am very happy with the start of the national team, that people have enjoyed seeing their team, and I hope we can continue that work.”
Aguirre said does not want to judge the campaign of his predecessor, Argentine coach Hector Cuper, who (with Salah’s help) led Egypt to qualify for the World Cup for the first time since 1990, but was eliminated from the group stage.
“I don’t like comparisons. I saw the Egyptian team in the World Cup, they had bad luck,” he said.