London: Egypt forward Mohamed Salah says he is "confident" of being fit to play at the World Cup despite sustaining a shoulder injury in Liverpool's Champions League final defeat to Real Madrid.
Salah's final ended prematurely in Kiev on Saturday after a first-half challenge from Real captain Sergio Ramos led to the 25-year-old leaving the pitch in tears, clutching his shoulder.
Real Madrid's Sergio Ramos, left, hooks his arm around Liverpool's Mohamed Salah's and pulls him down.
Photo: AP
Just 28 minutes in, Ramos hooked his arm around Salah's and pulled him down, making no attempt to disengage as the pair headed towards the turf. With his arm trapped this way, Salah landed with it twisted behind him, and with added force. His pained reaction immediately suggested serious injury.
Salah tried to play on but broke down and left the stage in tears, with Ronaldo cupping his face in sympathy.
Television pictures later showed Ramos grinning at teammates but there is no proof that he was specifically celebrating his role in Salah's removal. No proof either that he meant to cause the man who had scored 44 goals for Liverpool in 2017-18 serious harm.
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But his actions opened up that possibility, and Ramos' history of rough and devious play was bound to arouse suspicion.
Ramos walks away after the clash, leaving Salah prone.
Photo: AP
After the match, Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp said the injury to his talismanic striker "did not look good".
However, on Saturday, the Egyptian FA posted on Twitter that it was "optimistic" Salah would recover in time to travel to Russia.
And Salah posted on Sunday: "It was a very tough night, but I'm a fighter. Despite the odds, I'm confident that I'll be in Russia to make you all proud. Your love and support will give me the strength I need."
Klopp likened Ramos' challenge on Salah to a wrestling move but stopped short of saying the Spaniard had meant to hurt his player.
In tears, Salah leaves the pitch.
Photo: AP
"I know if you say something like that after a game you lost, it sounds like you are a little bit a bad loser but it was, for me, kind of a harsh challenge," Klopp said.
"It's like wrestling a little bit and it's unlucky then that Mo fell on his shoulder."
Former Egypt striker Mido was more scathing of Ramos.
"Anyone that understands football would know that Ramos injured Salah intentionally. Any player in the world would've released his arm but Ramos held onto his arm and spun with it," Mido tweeted.
Former Manchester United and England centre-back Rio Ferdinand absolved Ramos of blame, saying on BT Sport: "I would say I thought it was very good defending from Ramos and I don't really think he meant to do that."
Ramos was not asked by reporters about the incident but he later sent the Egyptian forward a message on Twitter, writing: "Sometimes football shows you its good side and other times the bad. Above all, we are fellow pros."
Early in the second half, Ramos appeared to strike Liverpool goalkeeper Loris Karius on the head with his elbow.
The German continued playing but later committed two catastrophic errors, one to allow Karim Benzema to open the scoring, the second for Gareth Bale to strike Real's third goal which effectively ended the game as a contest.
Reuters; Telegraph, London
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