Egypt coach Hossam Hassan backed skipper Mohamed Salah to put aside his poor form at Liverpool and inspire Egypt on Monday night as they start their hunt for a record-extending eighth Africa Cup of Nations crown.
"Salah's morale in training is very high," said Hassan on the eve of Egypt's opening match in Group B against Zimbabwe in Agadir.
"It is as if he were just starting out with the national team. I believe he will have a great Cup of Nations tournament with his country."
Liverpool boss Arne Slot failed to select Salah for the starting line-up for the five games before 33-year-old Salah departed for the Cup of Nations.
Tensions between the star striker and Slot rose following Liverpool's draw at Leeds United on 6 December. Salah claimed after the game at Elland Road that he was being blamed for the team's botched defence of their English Premier League title.
"I feel his motivation is very, very strong," added Hassan who played 176 times for Egypt. "Salah is an icon and will remain so. He is one of the best players in the world, and I support him in everything he does.
Salah delays rehab to support Egypt during Cape Verde crunch at Cup of Nations
"I don't consider what happened to him to be a crisis. These things often happen between players and coaches," Hassan added.
Since arriving at Anfield in June 2017 for €42 million, Salah has harvested nine trophies including two Premier League titles and the Champions League.
But there have been no prizes with Egypt: only runners-up medals from defeats in Cup of Nations finals in 2017 to Cameroon and Senegal in 2022.
"His focus is entirely on the tournament," added Hassan. "Whenever Salah's performances dip with his club, he regains his strength with the national team and becomes even better, whether by contributing to goals or scoring himself. Then he returns to his club even stronger."
In Group B's other match on Monday, Hugo Broos - the architect of Cameroon's victory over Egypt eight years ago - leads his South Africa side into the competition against Angola in Marrakech.
At the last tournament in Cote d'Ivoire, South Africa finished third. They went on to top a 2026 World Cup qualifying group that contained Nigeria.
"Obviously, we've had a wonderful few years," said Broos. "We've been on a very good run but there are so many factors that go into to winning the Cup of Nations tournament.
"But we believe that we can go a step further than last time. We've got the ability and we've got the quality but we need to show up and we need to showcase how far we've come as a team."
Mali take on Zambia in Group A in Casablanca to kick off the first full day of matches following Sunday night's opener between host Morocco and Comoros at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat.
The pool stages of the 24-team tournament continue until 31 December. The top two in each of the six groups advance to the last-16 knockout stages along with the four best third-placed teams.
