“One of us had to lose” – Mane speaks as Salah suffers again
Liverpool’s season will soon resume with one of our most important figures returning from international duty carrying familiar disappointment rather than celebration.
Mo Salah was left devastated once again at the Africa Cup of Nations as Egypt were beaten 1-0 by Senegal in the semi-finals, as reported by BBC Sport.
The decisive moment came 12 minutes from time in Tangier when Sadio Mane struck to send Senegal into the final and extend a painful pattern for our No.11.
For us, the concern is not just emotional toll but the weight another international near-miss adds to a player already navigating scrutiny back on Merseyside.
Speaking to BBC World Service after the match, the former Liverpool forward offered sympathy without disguising the reality.
“It is not easy for him – but still best of luck,” Mane said.
“He did everything to carry his team until now. Unfortunately one of us had to [lose]. I’m happy [to be] in the final.”
Salah AFCON frustration deepens again
Match-winners are his thing. Sadio Mané. #TotalEnergiesAFCON2025 | #WePlayDifferent pic.twitter.com/szn6XWrPor
— TotalEnergies AFCON 2025 (@CAF_Online) January 14, 2026
This latest setback echoes moments that continue to define Salah’s international career.
Mane converted the winning penalty against Egypt in the 2021 AFCON final, before repeating the heartbreak months later in World Cup qualifying.
Now, nearly four years on, another Senegal defeat has denied the Egyptian a long-awaited continental crown.
Salah has now played in five AFCON tournaments without lifting the trophy, despite coming painfully close on multiple occasions.
The BBC’s Keifer MacDonald noted that this loss will “cut just as deep” given Egypt’s timid display and reliance on moments of individual brilliance.
Salah himself made clear what the tournament still means to him.
“Nobody, even in Egypt, wants to win this trophy more than me,” he said after the quarter-final win over Ivory Coast.
Liverpool implications as Salah returns
Attention will quickly shift back to Anfield and how this disappointment feeds into the wider narrative, with the Egyptian expected to remain in Morocco for the third place play-off.
Salah has won every major honour available with Liverpool, including two Premier League titles and the Champions League.
Yet international success remains the glaring absence from an otherwise historic career.
Former Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel suggested the focus must now return to club duty.
“Now he needs to go back to Liverpool and carry on with his career,” he said via BBC World Service.
Those words land amid ongoing discussion about leadership, standards and authority at Anfield following recent comments made by the Egyptian after the draw at Elland Road.
With the fallout from Leeds still reverberating and questions of Arne Slot’s authority after the event, it’s far from a seamless trasition back to life on Merseyside expected.
As another AFCON ends without glory, Salah returns to us with something still unresolved – and Liverpool’s challenge is ensuring that frustration fuels performance rather than distraction.
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