Virgil van Dijk expects Mohamed Salah to take Egypt disappointment well and use it to motivate him for Liverpool.
Virgil van Dijk says that Mohamed Salah still has ‘everything to play for’ with Liverpool despite Egypt’s latest upset after being beaten in a controversial penalty shootout.
Salah, along with his Egyptian teammates, had received horrible treatment in Dakar as fans shone lasers into the star player’s eyes in the penalty shootout as well as having reportedly attacked the team bus.
Even though van Dijk wouldn’t have been aware of those circumstances, hearing that his teammate had been eliminated was enough for him to send an uplifting message to Salah.
“Well obviously, I feel sorry for Mo and for Egypt, but football is sometimes like this,” van Dijk responded.
“I am sure he will turn the disappointment into success for the rest of the season. We still have everything to play for so there are a lot of things still to achieve for him. As for Sadio, I wish him all the best and if he is in our group, he is going to need that good luck!”
I mean, just look at this. Salah sails his penalty over… and surely anybody would, given the lasers.
Mane scores, Senegal wins the shootout, Egypt out of the World Cup pic.twitter.com/tgHmCmW8uu
— Henry Bushnell (@HenryBushnell) March 29, 2022
Egyptian FA lodge complaint
The circumstances of Egypt’s loss are now surrounded with controversy as the crowd did their best to hinder the performance of the Egyptian players.
While Salah bore the brunt of the abuse, the Egyptian FA revealed the extent of the fans’ misbehaviour.
A statement from the Egypt FA said: “The Egypt national team have been exposed to racism with offensive signs in the stands against the Egyptian players in general, and Mohamed Salah in particular.
“The crowd also intimidated the players by throwing bottles and rocks at them during the warm-up.
“The Egyptian group’s busses have also been exposed to assaults that led to broken windows and injuries; filed with pictures and videos as proof in the complaint submitted.”
جماهير السنغال تقذف محمد صلاح بزجاجات المياه ويخرج في حماية الأمن pic.twitter.com/gVINqbS2fk
— Kora Plus (@KoraPlusEG) March 29, 2022