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LONDON: Egypt need Mohamed Salah to be back and on top form if they are to do well at the World Cup.
That is the view of Radojko Avramovic whose Kuwait side comfortably held the Pharoahs to a 1-1 draw last week.
Only a Ayman Ashraf goal nine minutes from time prevented Egypt from falling to an embarrassing defeat against Avramovic’s side, one ranked as low as 160 in the world, after Fahad Al-Ansari had given the hosts an early lead.
“They didn’t give us too many problems to be honest,” Avramovic told Arab News.
“If we had a little more luck then we could have won the match.”
For Egyptian fans watching at home, it was an unwelcome glimpse of what life in Russia may be like if their star man Salah does not recover in time from his Champions League calamity. While the news over the past week has improved — the situation has gone from him being a big doubt to make the tournament to the Egyptian medical team insisting the recovery from the shoulder injury will take not more than another two weeks — some worry does remain regarding how much of a part the star will be able to play in the tournament.
Egypt’s first clash comes on June 15 against Uruguay and there are huge question marks over whether he will be able to take the field.
What Avramovic is sure about, however, is that Egypt need him.
“The Egyptians do not have anyone remotely close who can come close to filling his shoes,” the Serbian said.
“It is a big problem. With him, they are a different team.
“We felt quite comfortable against them and they didn’t create many chances in the match against us. We handled them well.”
Avramovic believes that if Salah recovers in time and is able to show the form that brought him a Premier League-record of 32 goals for Liverpool, the situation will be different.
“The attacking options that he gives and the goals he can score and create, Egypt are just much more dangerous with him around and they know it too.
“Without him, they are going to have problems at the World Cup. This is a serious competition and you have to go at 100 percent, or face an early exit.”
It is not just about what he brings in terms of ability, he said.
“Psychologically, he is huge for the team and the other players. What they are going through right now is a kind of psychological shock as they think that they may have to play at the World Cup without him.”
That is why, whatever happens in terms of whether the player recovers or not, Avramovic would take him to Russia if he was in Hector Cuper’s shoes. “Salah needs to be in the squad whether he plays or not. He has the experience at the top level and from a psychological point of view the other players need to know he is around and that there is a chance he could play at some point in the tournament. It is not ideal to take a player who is not 100 percent fit to the World Cup but when it is someone like Salah and you are Egypt, then you have no choice.”