Sadio Mande and Mohamed Salah's Africa Cup of Nations experience will benefit Liverpool - Jurgen Klopp
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Published 05/02/2022 at 11:49 GMT
“All the experience these boys in these situations get help us of course. Short-term I’m not sure, long-term definitely." Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp believes Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah will benefit from the experience of leading their respective nations to the final of this year's Africa Cup of Nations. Egypt will meet Senegal in Sunday's showpiece final.
Mohamed Salah et Sadio Mané (Liverpool)
Image credit: Getty Images
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp believes the experience Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah will have gained from this year's Africa Cup of Nations will be beneficial to the club.
The duo will go head to head in the final of the competition as tournament favourites and 2019 runners-up Senegal take on seven-time winners Egypt in the Cameroonian capital of Yaounde.
Both players have been in sparkling forms for their respective countries, with Mane netting three goals and registering two assists, while Salah has scored twice and laid on one assist.
“I watched a lot of games – and it was really obvious Naby (Keita) was the absolute leader in the Guinea team, the same for Sadio in the Senegal team and of course Mo with Egypt,” Klopp said.
"When the coach was not there any more (in Thursday’s semi-final) because he got a red card, before the penalty shoot-out you saw Mo talking, speaking and all these kind of things with the whole group.
“All the experience these boys in these situations get help us of course. Short-term I’m not sure, long-term definitely.
“It’s very important that you get through these kind of things.
"It’s difficult obviously to get that far in a tournament, the pressure – they are the superstars so the pressure they had on their shoulders was massive.
"I’m really proud of the way they dealt with it. Now two of them are in the final and we will watch it definitely."
Despite the tight turnaround, Klopp is hopeful of having both players available for the Premier League home match with Leicester on Thursday night.
"I think they will be available but we will see,” he added.
“The one who wins will probably fly back to their home country for a celebration. I think Tuesday or Wednesday latest the winner will be back, the other slightly earlier. Then I have to talk to them.
"One thing is they have rhythm as they have played quite a few games.”
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