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Mohamed Salah injury: Liverpool hero limps out of Egypt game – AWFUL pitch to blame?
MOHAMED SALAH injury worries were raised last night after the Liverpool star limped out of Egypt's international clash.
Mohamed Salah has given Liverpool an injury scare after hobbling off during Egypt's Africa Cup of Nations qualifier clash with Swaziland on Friday night.
The Reds' star winger couldn't continue after going down in the 88th minute against the minnows – who are also referred to as eSwatini.
Liverpool ace Salah was quickly withdrawn from the action and limped around the pitch as he made his exit.
The 26-year-old looked visibly anxious as he was treated by medical staff and has been ruled out of Egypt's next fixture, another clash with Swaziland.
However, national team manager Hany Ramzy has calmed fears of a long injury lay-off despite Salah missing the next match.
He said: "The initial diagnosis confirmed that the injury is a muscle strain and there is no possibility of muscle rupture.
"The player needs to have radiation to determine the injury and the duration of his absence.
"It is not a big injury, we support him with all our energy and we hope he will return without being affected by an injury as soon as possible."
The pitch appeared to be in a terrible condition at Egypt's Al-Salam Stadium, though it is unclear whether it contributed to Salah's injury.
The 30,000-capacity ground is based in Cairo, and huge chunks of turf were tore up during the game.
Salah will return to Liverpool in the coming days to be assessed ahead of next weekend's trip to face Huddersfield.
The Egyptian hero has failed to replicate his devastating form from last season, but would still be a big miss for Jurgen Klopp.
The German boss will hope Salah can return as quickly as possible in order to exploit a run of games against bottom-half opponents over the next month.
As for Salah's national team, Egypt cruised to a 4-1 victory with the Liverpool man scoring a freak goal directly from a corner before leaving the field.
The win has taken Egypt to the top of their AFCON qualification group, though Tunisia are level on points with a game in hand.
Premier League players will not miss any of the season for the 2019 tournament in Cameroon following a shift to play the AFCON in June.