Salah celebrates “perfect win” over holders Ivory Coast in AFCON

Egypt forward Mohamed Salah described the victory over defending champions Ivory Coast as a “perfect win”, hailing his teammates after qualifying for the semi-finals of the Africa Cup of Nations on Saturday.

Salah scored the third goal for Hossam Hassan’s side, as Egypt ended Ivory Coast’s reign with a narrow 3-2 triumph, with Liverpool’s talisman setting a new record by scoring against 11 different national teams at the AFCON.

Egypt will face Senegal on Wednesday in Tangier, for a place in the final, in a repeat of the 2021 AFCON final.

“It was a perfect win, but as I said before, we are fighting for our country,” Salah told CAF’s media channel.

“Hopefully we go through the next game as well, it’s against a tough opponent, but we will give our best. “We are fighting so hard, you can see the players, nobody is holding anything… We are just carrying on,” he added.

Salah equalled his manager Hassan’s AFCON tally, with each scoring 11 goals. He needs just one more goal to become Egypt’s all-time top scorer in the tournament alongside Hassan El-Shazly.

Marmoush, Salah strike as Egypt edge out holders Ivory Coast in quarter-final

Salah, 33, said Egypt are not “100% the favourites” to win the title, with Nigeria, Morocco and Senegal all have players competing in European leagues.

“Most of our national team players play in the domestic league, it’s not to belittle them, but we are trying our best because we love our country,” he told beIN Sports.

“The game (against Senegal) will be difficult, they have a squad that plays at a high level in Europe, but I hope we can achieve victory,”