Following their collaboration in the past few weeks to maintain the campaign of Liverpool for an iconic quadruple feat, club teammates Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah will be rivals again in the next match of their national teams.
The pair shared unusual experiences lately and developed an odd relationship which will proceed over the next ten days as Salah’s Egypt and Mane’s Senegal will go face-to-face again to vie for a spot in the 2022 World Cup final tournament in Qatar with odds at Singapore pools.
International rivals
The first time the Liverpool teammates were set to play against each other in the international tournament is when Senegal defeated Egypt in the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations set in Cameroon back in February. Egypt’s best player is Salah, in the same way that Mane is the best player of Senegal, but both players clashed for their respective national teams in the finals.
A few minutes after the decisive win of Senegal in the first championship of the country at the Nations Cup, Mane was seen wrapping his arm around the shoulder of Salah. This is to console his Liverpool teammate in the loss of his national team in which the image warmed the hearts of many fans in social media.
Friendship in the club
In the finals of the African Cup of Nations, they might be rivals playing for their respective national teams, however, outside the field, they were friends. This is due to the fact that both have been teammates at their club Liverpool for almost five years. Ever since Salah came from Roma in 2017, both players have been inseparable.
However, that friendship has been put to test so many times even in the domestic leagues. Unusually enough, the extremely ambitious attitude of both players in the past few years has brought success to Liverpool in English, European and International tournaments.
The desire to score a goal for both players has caused them to go neck-and-neck with each other in the AFCON. However, Salah has accumulated 153 goals, outshining his teammate with 55 goals.
Meanwhile, Mane has produced 111 goals, which is higher than Michael Owen. All in all, both of them have produced a combined score of 251.
Challenges
The duo is also on the loftiest corner of the list in the Premier League of African goal setters. They hold the top two spots, outshining the Chelsea and Ivory Coast football star Didier Drogba, with a score of 104.
Due to the intense rivalry between the two, there have been accusations that in some games, they noticed that both Salah and Mane refused to pass the ball to each other if the other was placed in a better position.
However, Mane revealed in an interview that the incident was just a small misunderstanding. He said that the aforementioned incident at the game against Burnley in 2019 has been settled. He also added that they have discussed the matter privately after the game and it was resolved immediately.
The incident has highlighted the professionalism that the duo possessed when it comes to the games. Their friendship at Liverpool has been the root of the success of the club both in the domestic and international competitions.
Final thoughts
The African pair has been continuing to challenge each other both in their club team and in their national teams. Both of them need to showcase the full extent of their talents in the international field in the next few months. However, there is only one of them that will prevail in the competition.
No matter what happens in the match between Senegal and Egypt, the best of friends will always return to Liverpool to work together to help their club win the Premier League. The odds for the upcoming match can be seen in your online betting Singapore site.
