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


Soccer Football - FIFA World Cup 2026 - Round of 16 - Argentina v Egypt - Atlanta Stadium, Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. - July 7, 2026 Egypt's Mohamed Salah in action REUTERS/Carlos Barria

Sept ⁠26 (Reuters) - MohamedSalah 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 byHossam 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 atJuba Stadium, which ​has an artificial turf surface.

(Reporting by Ahmad ElGhannam in Cairo, Editing by Ed Osmond)

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