Mohamed Salah vs Luis Suarez: Liverpool favourites go head to head in Egypt’s clash with Uruguay at World Cup
Rivals will both be essential to their team's chances in Russia but they go about things in very different ways
THEY both eat defenders for breakfast.
Yet as their countries meet in the World Cup today, Egypt’s Mo Salah seems content to do it in a far more palatable way than bloodthirsty Uruguayan genius Luis Suarez.
Salah’s Footballer of the Year gongs, Premier League Golden Boot and 43 goals scored with the pace of a cheetah on Red Bull means the world is waiting to see if he can deliver on the biggest stage of all.
This is Suarez’s first World Cup game since being hit with a nine-game ban for nibbling the shoulder of Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini in Brazil four years ago — his THIRD biting offence.
He is just as watchable as Salah, 25, but for vastly different reasons.
Suarez’s appearance is about redemption, for Salah it is about recognition on his World Cup debut.
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In normal circumstances, the game would be a routine fixture. But with an irrepressible Liverpool star of the present meeting a tainted one from Anfield’s recent past and the one-sided nature of Russia’s win against minnows Saudi Arabia yesterday, match No 2 is where it gets really sexy.
It took Suarez four seasons on Merseyside to score his 82 goals and Salah is more than halfway there after only one.
On paper their temperaments do not compare and Uruguay boss Oscar Tabarez admits he ordered a total revamp of how his nation plays to try and rid them of their reputation as a bunch of kickers and biters.
He said: “I have always tried to face up to challenges with a positive spirit. I don’t want Uruguay applied to the principles of violent, aggressive play.
“There is no doubt about it, Luis is much more mature now. I have known him for so many years, even before he was in our Under-20 team in 2007.
“A great deal of what happened in Brazil is part of real life and it has been a lesson in life but also in other areas.
“He has prepared a lot, he has the right mindset for this World Cup. And I do believe he is meeting all my expectations.
“In addition to being a great player he is smart and comes here with a great degree of maturity.”
It has been eight years since Suarez, now 31, first sunk his teeth into an opponent — PSV Eindhoven’s Otman Bakkal.
The South American followed that by taking a chunk out of Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic at Anfield, which earned him a ten-game ban.
He then turned his untamed gnashers on Chiellini and was banned for nine international games.
It is usually three strikes and you’re out but for a team who have not won their opening World Cup match for 48 years, it is hard to ignore a Barcelona superstar if you have one in the ranks.
The South Americans are competing in their third finals in a row, not bad for a country of just four million. And as well as Suarez, the two-time winners can boast another top hitman in Paris Saint- Germain’s Edinson Cavani.
Tabarez, taking charge of Uruguay at a World Cup for the fourth time, believes his side have the experience and quality to enjoy a decent campaign.
The 71-year-old said of his squad: “It’s a very compact group, with a lot of friendship and great leaders. Getting here for us is already important. We arrive with the expectation of enjoying the World Cup and achieving great things.”
Salah’s recovery from injury in double- quick time has been a massive talking point and Tabarez wants to see him play as much as everybody else.
If Egypt’s talisman can genuinely get over a dislocated shoulder in just 20 days, he could set this tournament alight.
Pharaohs boss Hector Cuper said: “I can almost assure you 100 per cent he will play, barring any unforeseen factors at the last moment.
“The doctors are giving him the options to play or not. I know Salah very well, he’s not fearful.”
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