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When Mohamed Salah leads out Egypt in their 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) semi-final against Senegal, he will feel both the weight of expectation from his nation and his own personal pressure to deliver a place in the final.<\/b><\/p>\n
The North Africans are record seven-time continental champions but the most recent of those successes came in 2010, a year before the Liverpool forward’s international debut.<\/p>\n
The 33-year-old was a losing finalist at the 2017 and 2021 editions – with those defeats sandwiching a last-16 exit in 2019 on home soil – and he was then injured as Egypt suffered an early exit at the 2023 finals.<\/p>\n
“Nobody, even in Egypt, wants to win this trophy more than me,” Salah said after helping his team beat Ivory Coast in the quarter-finals.<\/p>\n
“I have won almost every prize. This is the title I am waiting for.”<\/p>\n
The prospect of revenge will also hang heavy in the Tangier air on Wednesday (17:00 GMT) as the Pharaohs captain will come up against former Reds team-mate Sadio Mane, who got the better of Salah on two of their past three international meetings.<\/p>\n