International Roundup: Sadio Mane gets the better of Mohamed Salah yet again as other Liverpool players return without injury
Liverpool star Mohamed Salah yet again lost a major final to Sadio Mane as Egypt saw their World Cup hopes crushed by their eternal rivals Senegal. The Egyptian superstar skied his penalty amidst a barrage of lasers during the shootout and will not go to Qatar for the major showpiece.
Sadio Mane and Senegal, however, have booked their place in the World Cup. The clash between the African titans was marred by crowd controversy after laser lights were used to put off players during the penalty shootout.
Elsewhere, both Alisson Becker and Fabinho played the full 90 minutes in Brazil’s 4-0 win over Bolivia. Tite’s team, having already qualified for the mega event in Qatar, extended their good form last night.
Andy Robertson started in Scotland’s 2-2 draw against Austria and managed to play 58 minutes and come out unscathed. The Liverpool left-back, who hit out at the insane International scheduling, is just recovering from an illness. The Tartan army will have to wait until at least June to play the war-plagued Ukraine to find out if they make it to Qatar.
Liverpool’s forgotten man Divock Origi played 12 minutes in his side’s 3-0 thrashing of Burkina Faso. Virgil Van Dijk played the full 90 in his side’s 1-1 draw against Germany. Neco Williams meanwhile was an unused substitute in Wales’ 1-1 draw against the Czech Republic.
Diego Jota played 77 minutes as Portugal got the better of North Macedonia thanks to a Bruno Fernandes brace and confirmed their place in Qatar. Luis Diaz meanwhile was a part of Columbia’s win against Venezuela but failed to qualify for the showdown.
Relief for the Reds
While a few players might be coming back to Anfield with emotional baggage, Liverpool will be happy that the players have come back unscathed from the International break.
The much-anticipated clash between the AFCON finalists was sure to end in heartbreak for either Mohamed Salah or Sadio Mane but it was the former who was unfortunately on the receiving end of the despair.
The Reds would have been hoping that all their players who are out on International duty come back unscathed and are fit and ready for the hectic schedule and they seemed to have gotten their wish.
Jurgen Klopp’s men have already secured the Carabao Cup and are in the quest for an unprecedented quadruple and the German manager will want each and every player on his squad to be fit and firing in the mission.
Liverpool’s first game after the International break is against a resilient Watford side on April 2nd, followed by a potentially title-deciding clash against Manchester City on April 10th at the Etihad.
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Klopp’s men have a hectic April to negotiate. It is a month that could make or break Liverpool’s season. Whether the Reds get through this tricky period remains to be seen but one thing would bring us a massive relief- the fact there has been no news of a major injury blow to any of our first-team stars.
