Most Egyptian hopes will be centred on Mohamed Salah when the Pharaohs take on defending champions Argentina in the Round of 16 clash in Atlanta. It’s expected as well as the Liverpool legend is the most high-profile player in the line-up and would be expected to replicate, in some sense, what Lionel Messi would do for the South American giants.
Salah has had to manage a hamstring issue throughout the World Cup campaign and though he has managed just one goal in the tournament – against New Zealand in the group stage – he did convert a penalty in the tie-breaker against Australia with a delightful Panenka kick.
However, there’s still a metric in which Salah is leading the field in this World Cup. Sky Sports and statistics website FootMob reported that the Egypt captain tops the list of players who have created the most chances in the tournament.
According to the numbers presented, going into the Round of 16 match, Salah and Belgium’s Leandro Trossard have created 16 chances each, but the former has been put ahead because he has 4.3 chances per 90 minutes, compared to the Arsenal man’s 4. Morocco’s Achraf Hakimi comes third with 14.
Salah’s figure was reached after he created five chances against Australia in the Round of 32. That the team has managed just six goals in their four matches so far – half of them against a limited New Zealand side – points to the need of their other forward players to be more efficient in front of the target against the class of La Albicelestes, especially when their talisman has to probably play a bit within himself in light of the hamstring niggle he’s carrying. Apart from Salah himself, the other player on whom the goalscoring responsibility will largely lie would be Emam Ashour, who not only got their first strike in the World Cup, against Belgium, but also opened the scoring against the Aussies. Mahmoud Saber, Trezeguet and Mostafa Zico are the others to have got on the scoresheet.