Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has praised Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane’s impacts for Egypt and Senegal respectively before they face-off in the final of the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations.
Salah guided the Pharaohs past Cameroon after a penalty shoot-out on Thursday to secure a place in Sunday’s final that will take place at the Olembe Stadium while Mane’s man-of-the-performance inspired Senegal to a 3-1 win in the other semi-final fixture.
The progress will turn Liverpool’s attacking duo against each other on Sunday with one expected to come out as a victor.
Ahead of the Reds’ FA Cup outing against Cardiff City on Sunday, Klopp expressed his happiness with his players’ performances in Cameroon including Guinea captain Naby Keita whose country could not go past the round of 16 stage.
“I’m not sure how we will benefit, but I watched a lot of games and it was really obvious that Naby was the absolute leader in the Guinea team, same for Sadio in the Senegal team, and of course Mo with Egypt," the German coach said.
“Yesterday when the coach was not there because he had a red card, before the penalty shootout you saw Mo speaking with the whole group.
“So all the experiences that these boys get in these situations will help us. Short term? I’m not sure, but long term definitely. It will help them as well.
“It was very impressive to see, and it is very important that you come through this kind of thing. To get this far in a tournament, with so much pressure; they are the superstars of their country, so the pressure on their shoulders is massive, and I am really proud with how they deal with it. And now two of them are in the final and we will watch it definitely.”
Senegal are yet to lift the Afcon title in their history while Egypt remain the best team in the tournament with the most titles (seven).
Pending the outcome of Sunday’s encounter, Klopp concluded that Afcon 2021 is already a successful competition for Liverpool as a club.
“Will we watch it as a team? I have nothing planned yet, didn’t think about it, but we followed it pretty closely. Great achievement for both, getting through to the final is great,” he said.
“Naby [Keita] played an exceptional tournament as well, but unfortunately he was suspended for [Guinea’s] decisive game. Otherwise, Guinea would have had a good chance to go further as well. So far, a really successful tournament for our boys, and it will be exciting.
“Obviously it’s not so easy now because we have to watch the game, and one will definitely be really happy after it, while the other one much less so! But both have a good chance to achieve something really big.”
