20 November 2023 , 15:02
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Egypt have admitted Mohamed Salah might have been hurt when the Liverpool star was targeted by a pitch invasion.
Fans ran at Salah towards the end of Egypt’s 2-0 win over Sierra Leone and again after the final whistle in the World Cup qualifier. Egyptian FA official Khaled Al-Dirandali admits he feared Salah might have been injured when he was targeted and thanked God that he escaped unscathed.
Al-Dirandali, who is the vice-president of the Egyptian FA, said: “I felt worried after more than one fan came on to the field because the number of police on the field was small, but thank God, God covered them.
“It was not intentional because they wanted to shake hands with Mohamed Salah, but it could have caused harm.”
Sierra Leone played the game at the Samuel Kanyon Doe in Liberia’s capital Monrovia because their own facilities are being upgraded and officials were slow to react when the first pitch invasion took place.
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Salah, 31, was protected by his Egyptian team-mates before the army stepped in at the final whistle to escort him down the tunnel to safety. Officials in hi-vis jackets were seen throwing punches at fans during the chaos.
Egypt top their World Cup group with two wins from two and Salah scored four times in their 6-0 win over Djibouti on Thursday to take his tally for his country to 53. Meanwhile, Liverpool team-mate Andy Robertson claims his surgery on his damaged shoulder has been a success.
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Mohamed Salah was confronted by pitch invaders as Egypt beat Sierra Leone
Salah's team-mates and security staff rushed to protect himRobertson, 29, was operated on after he was hurt playing for Scotland in their Euro 2024 defeat to Spain last month. The left-back said: “Yeah, I’m getting there, slowly but surely. Surgery was a success, which was the main thing, no complications from it.
“So far, so good. I think I’m about three weeks since my surgery now, so everything is progressing well. Just bit by bit, got to take it week by week. Everything has gone well up to this point and hopefully that continues and then hopefully before we know it, I’ll be back on the grass.”
Robertson refuses to put a timescale on his comeback, but it is expected he will return early in the new year. He said: “I’ve not looked that far ahead yet. I’m just trying to take it week by week.
“I’m trying to not get frustrated, I’m not the best when injured. I’m trying to just take small wins every single week. I don’t want to put a game in mind and then I don’t make it or I come back before then.
"I’m just taking it slowly but surely just now, and then there’ll be a time to start pushing it. When that moment comes, I’ll try to get on the pitch as quickly as I can.”