Liverpool’s Mo Salah targeted by lasers and abuse during Egypt’s crucial World Cup qualifier in Senegal

Mohamed Salah suffered more international heartbreak on Tuesday night as his Egypt side lost on penalties to Senegal in a World Cup qualifying decider.

The Pharaohs went into the second leg 1-0 up but were under immense pressure before even kicking off, with Senegal fans bombarding the team bus with stones and other missiles.

The unsavoury atmosphere made its way into the ground with fans reportedly aiming racist abuse at Salah and his teammates.

Senegal won the second-leg 1-0 to take the tie to penalties and Salah blazed his opening kick over the bar with a barrage of laser-pointers blinding the Reds winger as he ran up.

Egyptian media are understandably irked by the controversy surrounding their team’s defeat, here’s what some of their key outlets have had to say.

Egyptian FA claim racist abuse

In a statement released after the defeat, The Egyptian FA said the following: “The Egypt national team have been exposed to racism with offensive signs in the stands against the Egyptian players in general, and Mohamed Salah in particular.

“The crowd also intimidated the players by throwing bottles and rocks on them during the warm-up.

“The Egyptian group’s busses have also been exposed to assaults that led to broken windows and injuries; filed with pictures and videos as proof in the complaint submitted.”

They also posted pictures as evidence on their official Instagram account.

Mainstream media reaction to defeat

A lot of Egypt’s mainstream media focused heavily on the abuse and intimidation suffered by Salah and his team mates.

Egypt Today claimed that the safety of the Egyptian players was not guaranteed, pointing the failure at CAF officials and local police.

“Senegal authorities did not provide any security cover,” they said.

“The Egyptian national team players were attacked by the Senegalese fans.

“The Senegalese supporters clambered onto the pitch, threatening the Egyptian players after the end of the game and attacked them on the ground.. local police force did nothing to protect the Egyptians players.”

Media outlet Yalla Kora said: “Mohamed Salah missed the first penalty kick... after he strangely hit the ball over the crossbar, while he was facing a barrage of laser beams from the Senegalese fans in the stands behind the goal.

“After the end of the match, the television lenses monitored the presence of private security personnel for the Egyptian star, Mohamed Salah, in light of harassment from the Senegalese.”

While Al-Wafd described the emotion of the Pharaohs after defeat: “A state of sadness dominated the Egyptian football fans.

“The Egyptian national team was subjected to racism after offensive banners appeared in the stands of the match stadium for the players, specifically Mohamed Salah, the team leader.

“Mohamed Salah, captain of the Egyptian national team and Liverpool player, is in a state of great sadness after the national team lost.”

The defeat means that Salah will not be present at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and will once again return from international duty devastated.

He will be hoping to emulate his quick return from AFCON defeat back in February with Liverpool fighting on all four fronts and hunting down Manchester City - who they play in less than two weeks - in the Premier League title race.