World Cup 2018: Mohamed Salah fit to play as agent puts pressure on Egypt coach to start Liverpool star

Salah was left on the bench against Uruguay due to concerns for his shoulder

Mohamed Salah’s agent Ramy Abbas has piled pressure on Egypt boss Hector Cuper to recall the Liverpool forward after declaring him fit to play.

Cuper had said Salah would “100 per cent” play against Uruguay in the Pharoahs’ World Cup opener but he remained on the bench as the Egyptians conceded a gut-wrenching late winner, Jose Maria Gimenez heading home from a corner.

The Argentine coach explained that while he had been confident in his star player’s recovery in the press conference, looking closer after training had planted a seed of doubt in his mind.

“Yesterday we were certain he was alright,” he explained. “At the end of the training session we examined him and there was some doubt if he fell or was hit by another player, he might get hurt again and we wanted to avoid a risk today.”

Egypt looked short of ideas in attack but are keen not to risk Salah unnecessarily.

That has become a lot more difficult with Abbas revealing on Twitter that his client has made a full recovery.

“Mohamed is fit,” he said. “He’s fine.”

Egypt face Russia next needing a win to get their campaign back on track, but the hosts are full of confidence after a 5-0 destruction of Saudi Arabia in the tournament’s opening game.