There’ll be slightly less anxiety this international break, as Mohamed Salah will not be called up to the Egyptian squad.

According to a report by Al-Shorouk, the Egyptian national team, led by coach Hossam Hassan, has decided to exempt Mohamed Salah, the Liverpool player, from being with the team in the November camp. The decision was made primarily because the team will be playing its first match against Cape Verde on an artificial turf pitch. To minimise the risk of injury, Salah will not play in that game, so even though the second match against Botswana will be played at Cairo International Stadium, it is not expected that the FA will call Salah up to play in one match.

The Egyptian national team should be fine without Mo. They enter the matches against Cape Verde and Botswana occupying first place in Group 3 of the African Cup of Nations qualifiers with 12 points, while the Botswana national team is in second place with 6 points, and third place is occupied by the Cape Verde national team, followed by Mauritania with 3 points.