2021 AFCON: Mohamed Salah wants Egypt to stay grounded before semi-final

Egypt captain Mohamed Salah says the record Africa Cup of Nations champions must try not to think about the prospect of winning their eight title after they dug deep to reach the semi-finals.

Salah scored the equaliser and set up the winner to inspire the Pharaohs’ 2-1 extra-time success over Morocco on Sunday.

Egypt face unbeaten hosts Cameroon in the last four, a repeat of the 2017 final which the Indomitable Lions won.

“We must keep our feet on the ground because we cannot think too far ahead yet,” the 29-year-old Liverpool star said.

“We have to prepare for the big match against Cameroon and not start making dreams about the final before the semi-final.”

Sofiane Boufal gave Morocco an early lead with a penalty, before man of the match Salah tapped in an equaliser eight minutes after the restart and squared for Aston Villa’s Trezeguet to net the winner 10 minutes into added time.

Salah, who has been involved in 64% of Egypt’s goals at the Nations Cup – nine of 14 – since he made his competition debut in 2017, paid tribute to Morocco and his teammates.

The forward added: “I think we played a good game against a very good Moroccan team. My teammates do what is necessary in each game and give everything to go as far as possible.

“Playing two games in a row with extra-time is not easy, but I can tell you that we are well and we are having a very good tournament.”

Source: BBC