Mo Salah has given his verdict on the level of African football
Egypt captain and talisman, Mo Salah has delivered his verdict on African football after being involved in rounds of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations. Salah, who is returning to Liverpool for rehabilitation, says it has become tricky for the big nations.
“You go to the game and you do not know who is going to win. You see we(Egypt) are not first, we are not second. So it’s really tricky,” told journalists ahead of Egypt’s game against the already qualified Cape Verde.
Egypt came into the tournament as one of the favourites but have not found it easy to get out of a Group B that includes Mozambique, Ghana, and Cape Verde. Not many football people would have predicted Cape Verde topping the group and qualifying with a game to spare. Salah believes this shows that African football has improved.
“The football is improving a lot. The players are playing in Europe a lot, players are playing at a higher level. And you see also with the World Cup, we went so far with Morocco and we all behind them. I think it’s improving a lot,”
Salah’s sentiments are echoed by the fact that only Senegal has dominated and qualified for the Round of 16 after two rounds. So-called big teams like Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Morocco, Ghana, and Tunisia are still in dogfights with the underdogs to get into the knockout stage.
