Former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy has suggested that Mohamed Salah’s 'ego' may have got the better of him in the Africa Cup of Nations final.
Salah and Egypt were on the receiving end of a heartbreaking defeat in the AFCON final at the weekend, with his Reds team-mate Sadio Mane emerging victorious with Senegal.
After the match finished goalless following extra time, the final went to a penalty shootout and Salah was down to take Egypt’s fifth spot-kick.
However, after two of his Egypt team-mates missed their penalties, Salah was never given the opportunity to take his spot-kick - with Mane scoring the winner with Senegal’s final penalty.
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Egypt had been involved in two penalty shootouts earlier in the tournament, with Salah scoring his country’s fifth and winning penalty in their last-16 win over Ivory Coast.
In their semi-final win over Cameroon, Salah wasn’t needed as Egypt won the shootout 3-1, but it was a different story in the final.
Murphy, who was a successful penalty and free-kick taker during his time at Liverpool, has explained why he thinks Salah’s 'ego' may have cost him in the penalty shootout.
“I think ego takes over when you want to take the fifth,” Murphy told talkSPORT on Monday. “Instead of thinking, ‘what is best for the team?’
“I don’t think you should ever take the fifth. I remember what Carra (Jamie Carragher) is talking about when Ronaldo missed out.”
He then added: “I’ve heard people come on the show, who have written books about taking penalties and have done podcasts on taking penalties.
“None of them have taken penalties in big games and understood it. Practice doesn’t make perfect, practice makes permanence so if you’re practicing the right thing that’s fine.
“But you can’t recreate pressure, it is impossible and you can’t recreate what the keeper is going to do.
“So did you notice in the final last night, one keeper stayed big and strong and central and then he went? [Edouard] Mendy went up and down the line, which is a difficult one.
“So this thing about there being a perfect way or a perfect preparation, you can cover certain aspects but there are some you can’t.
“Ultimately, I think if you go up to take a penalty in a positive frame of mind and you are not worried about repercussions…
“Your best penalty taker shouldn’t be fifth – that I do agree on. So many times you don’t get a fifth penalty.”
