Salah's late arrival explained

Mohamed Salah (L) of Egypt reacts from the bench

Wednesday Jun 12, 2019. 16:00

The Egypt National Team's director, Ihab Leheta, has revealed why Mohamed Salah has yet to report for national duty ahead of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations which kicks-off in Cairo next Friday.

The Pharaohs take on Zimbabwe in the tournament opener on the 21st of June as they set their sights on an eighth continental crown.

Salah, though, has yet to arrive at Egypt's training camp after being handed an extended break by the country's coaching staff following his role in helping Liverpool to the Uefa Champions League crown.

The 26-year-old, who scored 27 goals and assisted a further 13 for the Reds across all competitions this past season, scored the opener in Liverpool's 2-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur in Madrid on June 1.

“The national team has 8 players who play abroad, six of them finished their season in mid-May, so they managed to take enough rest before arriving at the camp,” Lehita said on TimeSports.

“On the other hand, Mohamed Elneny and Mohamed Salah have finished their seasons later, as they had Europa League and UEFA Champions League finals to play; therefore, they had to take some rest.”

“Elneny has just arrived to the training camp and he has been undergoing additional exercises to raise his fitness level and Salah has agreed with the technical staff for an additional rest before featuring in the camp in the next few hours,” he concluded.