Egypt '˜right to risk Morsy's mate' - Robson

Sam Morsy's Egypt were absolutely right to take a chance on fielding a half-fit Mo Salah against Russia to give themselves the best chance of staying in the World Cup.
Mo Salah during Egypt's World Cup clash against RussiaMo Salah during Egypt's World Cup clash against Russia
Mo Salah during Egypt's World Cup clash against Russia

That’s the view of Bryan Robson, who sustained a similar shoulder dislocation before the 1986 World Cup, which hampered his – and England’s – participation.

Robson, playing through the pain barrier, saw his tournament prematurely ended when he suffered another bang to the shoulder during England’s second group game against Morocco.

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But he says he’d take the same risk again – just as Salah and Egypt were correct to do on Tuesday night, despite Salah looking off the pace in a 3-1 defeat.

“When it’s such a massive tournament, and you’ve worked so hard to get there, you’ve got to give it a go,” Robson told the Wigan Post.

“You try and give yourself the best possible chance, and then it’s up to the manager if he makes the call or not.

“I got through the first game in 1986 against Portugal without any problem.

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“But with a problem like that, once you’ve had a dislocation a few times, it gets weaker and weaker.

“In the Morocco game, it was just as simple as a player pulled my arm and the shoulder came out – easy as that.

“That was a massive disappointment for me, and it will be a massive disappointment for Salah.

“He knew he wasn’t 100 per cent going into the game, and he obviously wasn’t, but he gave it a go – and these things happen in football.”

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Egypt’s hopes of remaining in the competition were ended on Wednesday afternoon with Uruguay’s 1-0 win over Saudi Arabia.

It will be interesting to see whether Salah will be risked in the final group game against the Saudis on Monday, with nothing riding on it.

Salah may still require surgery to fully correct the problem – a procedure Robson says, had he undergone when he first sustained his injury, would have cleared by the World Cup.

“When I dislocated my shoulder the first time – six months before the World Cup – I should have had my shoulder sewn back in straight away,” said Robson, speaking at the launch of an official partnership between the Manchester United Foundation and Dean Trust, Wigan.

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“Unfortunately, the surgeon didn’t want to do that, and that ended up costing me the World Cup really.

“If I’d have had it sewn straight back in, I would have been fine for the World Cup.

“When I did have the operation after I got home, it never ever caused my a problem after that.”