Mohamed Salah | Injury update | Australia vs Egypt

Mohamed Salah returned to training three days out from Egypt’s FIFA World Cup Round-of-32 showdown with the Socceroos on Saturday (AEST).

Salah was pictured joining Egypt’s team training for the first time since picking up a hamstring straining in his side’s dramatic Group G finale with Iran.

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The Liverpool legend and Egypt captain did not train on Monday (AEST) as the Egypt Football Association said Salah was continuing to perform “therapeutic exercises” away from their training in Spokane, Washington.

However, the national hero was a notable addition to Egypt’s training on Wednesday (AEST).

“He’s a player of Egypt. We respect him, big career, but we’re focused on us,” Socceroos midfielder Ajdin Hrustic told reporters midweek when asked about him.

Egypt are into the knockouts for the first time in their history but there are doubts over the 34-year-old’s fitness due to a muscle strain sustained in the country’s 1-1 draw with Iran in their Group G finale, which wrapped up second spot.

All eyes are on Salah and whether he will be fit for the Round-of-32 clash in Arlington, Texas.

Salah was seen with his left leg wrapped in ice after Egypt earned a date with Australia.

Just one goal shy of the Pharaohs’ all-time goalscoring record held by head coach Hossam Hassan, Salah was withdrawn in the 57th minute before his left leg was strapped – either to his hamstring or quad – as he watched Egypt hold on for a point.

Speaking on Football360 Today, Socceroos legend and Salah’s former Chelsea teammate Mark Schwarzer said even if Salah does recover to some extent, he will be underdone for this key game – bad luck for a player who was also not at his physical best in 2018, the last time Egypt were at the World Cup, because of an injury suffered in the Champions League final just before the tournament.

“The issue you have, this is a player that relies heavily on his pace,” he assessed.

“Any player, we see all athletes that rely heavily on their pace. And certainly as they get older and that repetitive injury with hamstrings, it’s a real problem.

“Generally if he’s got a got a hamstring strain I’d be really surprised if he plays, certainly starts the game. I could see him possibly coming on if the result is not going in Egypt’s favour just because that’s desperate stakes but then that’s a risk because he could come on and literally within five minutes completely do his hammy and that’s a player you’ve just brought on, you might even be done at 10 minutes if you’re not careful with that substitution.

“It’s going to be really dependent on how severe it is. If it’s just a minor, minor slight strain, maybe. But yeah, tough one.”

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