MOHAMED Salah has declared that he is aiming to lead Egypt to the Africa Cup of Nations title in Cote d’Ivoire, just hours after he fired Liverpool to the top of the English Premier League table.
The prolific forward scored twice last night and assisted another goal as Liverpool defeated Newcastle United 4-2 at Anfield to go three points clear of second-placed Aston Villa and five ahead of third-placed Manchester City, who have a game in hand.
Salah took his Premier League tally this season to 14 goals and eight assists, making him the current leader in both categories in the English top flight.
The 31-year-old has also become only the fifth player in Premier League history to score 150 or more goals for a single club, after Harry Kane for Tottenham Hotspur, Sergio Aguero for Manchester City, Wayne Rooney for Manchester United and Thierry Henry for Arsenal.
However, Liverpool will miss his vital contributions for the next few weeks as Salah heads off to the 2023 AFCON, which will be held from January 13 to February 11, with 2021 losing finalists Egypt one of the favourites.
Salah is confident that he can achieve success on both fronts this year.
“Everybody asks me the same!” Salah told Sky Sport when asked about his AFCON ambitions. “I want to win this competition, I would love to win it.
“But without me, I’m sure the [Liverpool] players will manage to win games. We have fantastic players, really good quality, they just need to keep the pressure away and just play their football.
“We have players who can play in my position, they can do what I am doing.
“It means a lot to play for the national team, it’s a great feeling. Every time I step on the field with the national team jersey, it’s something I cannot take for granted. I’m just happy to play in the tournament and I would love to win it.”
Egypt are in Group B for the 2023 AFCON along with Ghana, Cape Verde and Mozambique.
