Dirk Kuyt has offered an insight into how Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane will be feeling after coming up against each other in the Africa Cup of Nations Final.
When playing in the 2010 World Cup Final, the ex-Red faced off against a Spain squad that included two of his Liverpool teammates in Fernando Torres and Pepe Reina.
The Netherlands ultimately suffered a 1-0 defeat, courtesy of Andres Iniesta’s extra-time winner, with Salah having experienced a similar pain to Kuyt following Egypt’s loss to Mane’s Senegal on penalties.
However, despite the "strange" circumstances, the former Liverpool forward has insisted that the result will not impact the pair’s relationship at club level.
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“I remember I was trying to make my run from outside to inside and during the match I saw Pepe Reina running down behind the linesman, yelling at the Spanish defenders that they need to watch me and need to be careful of my runs,” Kuyt told The Mirror .
“That’s what you saw with Salah and Mane ; Salah was trying everything to win that cup and you could see it with the penalty Mane had to take that the goalkeeper saved!
“I lost a World Cup final and it’s one of the saddest moments of my career but, after the match, the team-mates from club sides came into the dressing rooms.
“Once you enter that white line and you’re inside the pitch, it’s like a war, but once the whistle goes and the game is over it’s finished.”
Kuyt made 286 appearances for Liverpool during his six-year stint with the Reds and was part of the side that reached the Champions League Final in 2007.
Having endured two defeats in major finals during his playing days, the 41-year-old is certain that both Mane and Salah will be unaffected by their meeting at AFCON, highlighting their winning mentality.
“They are not only top, top football players, they are winners and they want to win as many trophies as they can possibly get,” Kuyt said.
“But they know they need each other to make it possible so I’ve no worries there will be any problems between them.”
