Egypt's Salah ruled out of South Sudan qualifier due to artificial surface

Mohamed Salah will not travel with Egypt’s squad to South Sudan ​for their second Africa Cup of Nations ‌qualifier because the match will be played on an artificial turf pitch, the Egyptian Football Association said ​on Saturday.

Egypt were held to a ​goalless draw by Angola at Cairo International ⁠Stadium on Friday in their opening qualifier.

Salah, ​who joined Turkey’s Trabzonspor from Liverpool recently, started ​against Angola but did not complete the match after coach Hossam Hassan substituted him midway through the second ​half.

“The Egypt national team’s technical staff, led ​by Hossam Hassan, has decided to rest Mohamed Salah ‌for ⁠the match against South Sudan scheduled for September 29 because of the playing surface,” EFA said on social media.

“It was agreed between the ​national team’s ​technical staff ⁠and Mohamed Salah before the Angola match that he would not ​play against South Sudan, and the ​technical ⁠staff preferred this approach in order to protect the player,” EFA added.

The match between South ⁠Sudan ​and Egypt will be played ​at Juba Stadium, which has an artificial turf surface.