'Every report says he will make it'

Egypt coach Hector Cuper is optimistic that Mohamed Salah will be fit for the World Cup, but accepted his team struggled without their "weapon" against Colombia.

With Salah sidelined due to a shoulder injury, Egypt played out a 0-0 draw against Colombia in Bergamo on Friday.

The Liverpool star suffered the injury during the Champions League final defeat to Real Madrid, sparking fears he could miss Russia 2018.

Speaking after his side's friendly draw, Cuper said he still remained confident Salah would be fit for the showpiece event.

"We are optimistic, and every medical report says he will make it," he said. "But we still have to prepare for any situation that could happen before we start."

Egypt have another friendly before their World Cup opener against Uruguay on 15 June, facing Belgium on Wednesday. Cuper said his side missed Salah, while adding Ramadan had impacted his players' energy levels.

"Salah is not easy to replace, no doubt about that," he said. "He is a weapon for us, especially on counter-attack, making use of his speed and his quality. That's why today we struggled in our attacking performance.

"We tried to compensate that with a team game, but as I said in the second half we lacked stamina because we have a special condition … for religious reasons, players don't drink nor eat anything, and we actually felt that. We tried to manage it using the whole team so it could try to respond better. We sprinted very well, because it was not easy to recover the ball."

SALAH NOT ANGRY WITH RAMOS

Meanwhile, Sergio Ramos reportedly received death threats for his part in Salah's injury and had to change his phone number along with his family, according to reports in Spain.

Liverpool physio Ruben Pons, however, does not believe Salah is angry with the Spaniard as it was an accidental challenge. "I don't think he is angry with him. It was an accidental challenge," Pons said. "We knew that it was something serious as soon as he fell on the ground because he never complains.

"We feared the worst. He is sad about what happened, but is totally focused on his recovery and seeing when he can be ready."