Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk has backed Mohamed Salah to turn his disappointment from their World Cup qualification elimination into some success with the club.
Salah’s Egypt were eliminated by Senegal in Dakar on Tuesday, and the Dutchman believes his teammate will use the failure to progress to the global competition as a motivating factor for the remainder of the Premier League season.
"I am sure he will turn the disappointment into success for the rest of the season. We still have everything to play for so, there are a lot of things still to achieve for him," Van Dijk said as per Mail Online.
"As for Sadio [Mane], I wish him all the best and if he is in our group, he is going to need that good luck!"
Meanwhile, Egyptian football legend Ahmed Hossam Mido has defended Salah from the criticism he received following their failure to grab a ticket to Qatar.
"I support Salah against the criticism directed at him. He did all he could for the World Cup dream, but football is a team game," Mido said.
"He didn’t find the support he needed from his teammates on the pitch, despite their trying.
"We shouldn’t just put the blame on one person, we need to learn from the past and work on improving."
Elsewhere, Egypt’s Sports Minister, Ashraf Sobhi, has claimed their defeat came from an unfriendly atmosphere but urged the nation to learn and prepare for the next competition.
"Everyone is sad, but we are not broken. That’s what I’d like the players to know," the minister said, according to KingFut.
"The majority of the players are still young and we should be preparing for the next Afcon.
"We were able to compete with the strong Senegalese team despite playing the second-leg and extra time in Dakar.
"I am not saying it’s the reason for the defeat, but the atmosphere was bad, the game’s circumstances were really difficult.
"We don’t want to lose our national team. They did all they could, and we must look forward."
After the qualification setback, Salah will be back at Liverpool and continue to contest for the FA Cup, where they are in the semi-finals, the Champions League, and the Premier League titles.