Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool plans in tatters after what Egypt coach just did
Egypt’s assistant manager has requested that the Africa Cup of Nations final be postponed by 24 hours so that his team can recover from their grueling semi-final victory over Cameroon.
Diaa El-Sayed believes the championship event should be played on Monday, rather than Sunday, as originally planned, to give both teams at least four days to prepare.
Egypt advanced to the final after defeating Cameroon on penalties on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Senegal advanced to the final stage by defeating Burkina Faso 3-1 on Wednesday, giving them an extra day to rest.
“We are the only team that played 120 minutes in three consecutive games,” said El-Sayed after Egypt’s semi-final triumph.
He added: “I hope CAF [the governing body] would move the final from Sunday to Monday for the sake of fair play, they have done that with the third-place decider.”
CAF agreed to move the third-place decider, but it was moved forward 24 hours to Saturday rather than pushed back.
It is highly unlikely that the final, and thus the tournament, will be postponed until Monday because global audiences would prefer to watch it over the weekend.
A delay would also irritate club managers across Europe, who are eager to see their African stars return for the end of the season.
Jurgen Klopp intends to start Egypt’s Mohamed Salah and Senegal’s Sadio Mane against Leicester in the Premier League on Thursday.
“I think they will be available [for Leicester] but we will see,” said Klopp ahead of Liverpool FA Cup tie against Cardiff on Sunday afternoon.
“Tuesday or Wednesday latest the winner will be back, the other slightly earlier. I have to talk to them. They have rhythm as [they have] played quite a few games!”
Egypt’s squad also includes two Premier League players: Arsenal’s Mohamed Elneny and Aston Villa’s Trezeguet.
Senegal, on the other hand, has six English-based players at their disposal: Mane, Chelsea’s Edouard Mendy, Crystal Palace’s Cheikhou Kouyate, Leicester’s Nampalys Mendy, Watford’s Ismaila Sarr, and Queens Park Rangers’ Seny Dieng.
Egypt has won the AFCON seven times in aa record, while Senegal has yet to win their first title after losing the previous final two and a half years ago.
Discussing his team’s chances, El-Sayed said: “The players are fully focused, they have a good base to build on, and we thank their clubs for that.
“Salah being the group leader gives the players a lot of positive energy as well. We also have a great head coach [Carlos Queiroz] that has a lot of experience dealing with players.”
El-Sayed added: “I don’t want to discuss refereeing mistakes or the things we suffered throughout the tournament, players determination changes everything on the pitch.
“We appreciate our fans’ support and we’d like to thank them for being there for us. We’ll celebrate tonight [Thursday], but after all, we haven’t won anything yet.”
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Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool plans in tatters after what Egypt coach just did
