Egypt boss Hector Cuper hits back at Ramos over Salah injection comment

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Egypt manager Hector Cuper has dismissed Sergio Ramos‘ claim that Mohamed Salah could have played on through his shoulder injury during the Champions League final.

Salah, who scored  44 goals across all competitions in an extraordinary debut season for Liverpool, was substituted after just half an hour in a match in which the Merseysiders lost 3-1 to Real Madrid in Kiev.

Ramos was subsequently accused of hurting Salah intentionally – the Spaniard was also involved in a clash with Loris Karius which is said to have concussed the Liverpool goalkeeper before he made two costly errors.

Earlier this week Ramos defended his actions, denying causing any harm to either Salah or Karius deliberately and suggesting Salah could have played on through the pain.

According to the Liverpool Echo, Ramos said: “He could have played if he got an injection for the second half, I have done it sometimes but when Sergio Ramos does something like this, it sticks a little bit more.”

But Egypt boss Cuper, who has picked Salah in his World Cup squad in the hope he will recover for the tournament, has questioned the validity of Ramos’ comments.

“I’m not a doctor, I don’t know if [Sergio] Ramos is a doctor, but it’s a player who is playing a final and has an injury,” he said, via the Liverpool Echo.

“I don’t have any doubt that if he could keep playing he would do it, because a Champions League final is extraordinary.

“My opinion is that Salah has an important injury, there is a recovering [process] that we can see, and we are optimistic about the chances he has to play in the World Cup.

“We listen to many things, but the reality is that the doctors recover or confirm a problem in a player.”

Egypt will play their first World Cup match against Uruguay on Friday June 15, while Spain start their tournament against Portugal later that day.