Dejan Lovren has joked his former Liverpool teammate Mohamed Salah will "100 per cent be jealous" of his participation at this summer's World Cup.
Lovren is expected to play a major role in Croatia's campaign in Qatar, having played in all seven matches of their run to the final in the last edition of the tournament. Salah is not at the tournament after Egypt lost a World Cup play-off clash against Senegal earlier this year.
Salah has endured a frustrating year of near misses, with Egypt being edged out on penalties in their World Cup playoff against the same opponents who defeated them in the African Cup of Nations final just months earlier. The Egyptian star was also part of the Liverpool side who narrowly missed out on winning the Premier League title and were edged out by Real Madrid in the Champions League showpiece.
In each of his nation's penalty shootouts defeat to firstly miss out on continental glory and then a World Cup qualification spot, Salah was edged out by then-Liverpool teammate Sadio Mane, who has subsequently joined Bayern Munich – but will miss the World Cup through injury.
Lovren and Salah became close friends during their at Anfield in their three seasons together between 2017 and 2020, when the central defender joined Russian club Zenit Saint Petersburg. These latest comments suggest that the two remain on strong terms, with Lovren sending a friendly reminder to Salah that it was Mane who pipped him to a finals spot.
Lovren told reporters on Sunday, when asked if Salah would be jealous of his place at the World Cup: "100 per cent. I would also be jealous. What's he been saying? That he will support me.
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"I mean, it's nice to hear that, but to be honest I'm sad that he didn't qualify. He was so close, but Mane was better. He has said he will come... with a Croatia flag!"
Croatia kick-start their World Cup campaign on Wednesday as they take on Morocco. In what is one of the most balanced groups in terms of quality in the competition, they will then face Canada before concluding their group campaign against Belgium on 1 June.
The Eastern European nation reached the final of the World Cup for the first time in their history last time out as they defeated England in the last four before losing the showpiece 4-2 against France.
