Trézéguet points to Salah’s influence in Egypt’s AFCON title push

This is according to Salah’s countryman and teammate, Mahmoud “Trézéguet” Hassan, who spoke to the media ahead of tomorrow’s AFCON semifinal against Senegal at the Ibn Battouta Stadium in Tanger.

Trézéguet says the commitment the two-time African Footballer of the Year has been revealed in this tournament...

"For me, Mo Salah is the best player in the world. Of course we all saw him taking on roles we've never seen him in before, he is the first one to track back and defend. He is the guy who tries the hardest. There is a beautiful spirit in the camp currently, everyone loves one another and we all want to achieve something special and make the country proud."

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This game pits the second-ranked African country (Senegal) against the fifth-ranked but most successful football nation on the continent (Egypt). But according to Trézéguet, the Al Ahli youth product and former Aston Villa attacker ---they are more like a reborn team under head coach and Pharaoh's legend Hossam Hassan...

"Senegal are a great team, and we all know that they have great players with a lot of experience, but we are the Egyptian national team and we are the team that has won this competition the most times, so all the players are ready. We hope that god grants us success and that luck will be on our side so that we can make the Egyptian people happy."

Besides the 2021 loss in the final on penalties in Cameroon, the Pharaohs of Egypt have been playing second fiddle to the Lions of Teranga, coming off second best in four of the last five matches.

Senegal were also the reason they missed out on the 2022 FIFA World Cup, losing out on penalties in the decisive game in Dakar.

These losses were painful for the Egyptian team, but Trézéguet says their focus is on winning the tournament, not on revenge.

Salah has been, without a doubt, the go-to man for Egypt in this tournament, as he’s always been, with four goals from five matches.

He is also just two goals away from matching the national goalscoring record of his current head coach, Hossam Hassan (69).

Despite finishing twice on the losing side, Trézéguet is going into tomorrow’s game with some belief.