Former England and Liverpool player Danny Murphy has questioned the decision to have Mohamed Salah wait for the fifth penalty against Senegal in the Africa Cup of Nations final on Sunday.
The 29-year-old Liverpool forward was not able to take his penalty at Olembe Stadium after Chelsea’s Edouard Mendy denied Mohanad Lasheen, leaving his compatriot at Anfield Sadio Mane to score the decisive kick and help the Lions of Teranga lift their first-ever Afcon title after a 4-2 win.
While another Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher described the decision to have Salah line up for the fifth penalty as “madness”, 44-year-old Murphy, who managed 170 appearances for the Reds and scored 25 goals, suggested Salah's ego might have taken over.
“I think ego takes over when you want to take the fifth,” Murphy said on White and Jordan as quoted by talkSPORT. “Instead of thinking, ‘what is best for the team?’
“I don’t think you should ever take the fifth. I remember what Carra is talking about when Ronaldo missed out. I’ve heard people come on the show, who have written books about taking penalties and have done podcasts on taking penalties.
“None of them have taken penalties in big games and understood it. Practice doesn’t make perfect, practice makes permanence so if you’re practising the right thing that’s fine.
“But you can’t recreate pressure, it is impossible and you can’t recreate what the keeper is going to do. So did you notice in the final last night, one keeper stayed big and strong and central, and then he went? [Edouard] Mendy went up and down the line, which is a difficult one.
“So this thing about there being a perfect way or a perfect preparation, you can cover certain aspects but there are some you can’t. Ultimately, I think if you go up to take a penalty in a positive frame of mind and you are not worried about repercussions…
“Your best penalty taker shouldn’t be fifth – that I do agree on. So many times you don’t get the fifth penalty.”
Earlier on Monday, Carragher had blamed Egypt for the decision, insisting Salah should have been among the first penalty takers.
“That is why your best penalty taker should never go fifth,” Carragher wrote on his social media pages. “Salah not taking a penalty for Egypt in a shootout in a final is madness.”
He further compared the scene to the 2012 European Championships when Cristiano Ronaldo was earmarked to take the fifth penalty for Portugal during their 3-2 defeat against Spain but he could not after Bruno Alves missed and Cesc Fabregas scored the decisive kick.
“Also happened to Ronaldo years ago for Portugal versus Spain,” Carragher continued.