What doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger. Liverpool have certainly lived by the old adage during Jurgen Klopp’s reign, repeatedly fighting back from on-field adversity to deliver success.
Lose a Champions League final after an unfortunate goalkeeping performance and seeing your best player forced off injured? No worries, the Reds will just win it next season. Miss out on the title by a solitary point, having lost just once all season? It’s fine, next year is our year, and we’ll be champions of everything too. See your Premier League title defence and season in general decimated by a defensive injury crisis? We’ll just have to aim for the quadruple in 2022 then!
Turning such negative experiences into positives is what makes this Liverpool side so endearing. No matter the setback, they have repeatedly found a way to bounce back stronger, such is the winning mentality and self-belief Klopp has instilled in every member of his squad.
But even having said all that, Mohamed Salah is going to need to dig deeper than he ever has before to come out the other side following his latest setback with Egypt.
The forward would already have been hurting after losing in the Africa Cup of Nations final to Senegal in February, with the fact he wasn’t able to take a penalty in the shootout adding salt in the wounds, and in truth he hasn’t been at his most prolific best since then. But Egypt’s latest penalty shoot-out loss to The Teranga Lions will have stung that little bit more.
With a place at the 2022 World Cup on the line, Salah blazed Egypt’s first spot-kick over the crossbar as Senegal supporters shone a barrage of lasers in his face, before Sadio Mane scored the eventual winner to send his homeland to Qatar at his club-mate’s expense. Meanwhile, the Egyptian FA have reported that the Reds forward and his team-mates were subjected to racist abuse during the game, and inflicted to further intimidation tactics on their arrival to the stadium, during their warm-up and after the match as they were being pelted with missiles such as bottles and rocks, with security needed to shield them as they left the pitch.
As Egypt captain, Salah will take their failure to qualify for the World Cup personally. He had unfinished business on football’s biggest stage and has now been denied the opportunity to showcase his talents at the peak of his powers with the whole globe watching.
It was the Liverpool forward who scored a last-minute penalty to send the Pharaohs to the 2018 World Cup for their first finals appearance for 28 years, and after a mesmerising first season at Anfield, he was poised to finish his campaign on a high for Egypt in Russia. But then he was forced off in the Champions League final after a Sergio-Ramos inflicted shoulder injury and faced a race against time to be fit for the tournament.
Named in Egypt’s squad, he wouldn’t be fit for their first game as they suffered a last-minute loss to Uruguay, but returned to score a penalty in their second outing as they lost 3-1 to hosts Russia, with the defeat confirming their group-stage exit. Salah would also open the scoring in their final game, against Saudi Arabia, as they suffered a stoppage-time 2-1 loss.
He might have scored twice at the World Cup, but he had been robbed of the opportunity to truly leave his mark on this global stage. Having had to wait four-and-a-half years for his next opportunity, 2022 was supposed to be his time.
Currently the best player in the world, Salah will be 30 when the World Cup kicks off in November. This could have been a tournament to remember for him. Instead, he’ll be watching at home, unable to grace the competition with his presence.
But unlike when suffering setbacks with Liverpool, the forward will not be able to just bounce back next season. Salah will have to wait another four years for the chance to set that particular record straight.
Yet he’ll be 34 for the 2026 World Cup in Canada, Mexico and the United States. While he could still be one of the best players around, it could also be his last opportunity to leave his mark. As the dust settles on this Senegal loss, the realisation will set in in Egypt that they have been denied the chance to compete with the best player in the world.
The 29-year-old has admitted in the past that achievements with Egypt inevitably mean that little bit more than anything he could achieve at club-level. Speaking during the Africa Cup of Nations, he said: "Of course, I want to win something with the national team. It's my country, what I love the most. This trophy for me would be completely different, would be the closest one to my heart.”
As a result, he will be left unsatisfied and has to find a way to channel his latest World Cup heartache into a positive. As Liverpool chase an unprecedented quadruple, they could be the ones to benefit.
The Reds will continue to provide him with his biggest stage as he looks to make his peak years count. Admittedly for how much longer remains unclear with his contract set to expire in 2023 and no breakthrough in negotiations just yet. Perhaps after his Egyptian setbacks, he'll even appreciate what Liverpool have to offer him on the pitch that little bit more when it comes to deciding his Anfield future. More to the point, maybe his agent will too.
With Premier League and Champions League glory currently in Klopp’s side’s sights, the forward will be desperate for such silverware more than ever, especially with Liverpool now his sole platform to stake his claim for this year’s Ballon d’Or. 2022 has been a year of international disappointment for the Egyptian and will end with a World Cup that doesn’t feature Mohamed Salah. He’ll only hope his year at club-level has a much happier ending.
