Salah: I will always give my all for Egypt and pass on my experience to young players

Egypt beat New Zealand 3-1 in their second FIFA World Cup group stage match. Salah was interviewed in the FIFA mixed zone after the match.

Personally, after the past year and all you've given to this team, how much satisfaction does this victory bring you?

I have played for the national team for 14 years, so I will always give my best to the national team and try to pass on my experience to younger players to help them achieve greater success. Today is a very special day for me because it's our first victory in the FIFA World Cup. When we gathered just now, I also told my teammates, "Guys, today we have the chance to make history. If we can qualify as group winners in the next match, I believe this will be remembered for many years."

Previously, we were unlucky in the Africa Cup of Nations and failed to win the championship. We reached the final twice, and we didn't win either time—one of which was lost in a penalty shootout. So what I want to say is that we have given our best and achieved something extremely difficult for Egyptian football. I hope we can continue to win the next match and qualify as group winners. We love football and are willing to give our all for our people.

What do you think of the New Zealand team?

They are a very tough team. As you saw, they scored first and played very threateningly in the first half. In the second half, we were fortunate and managed to turn the situation around. We have strong mental toughness, but they are indeed a difficult team to deal with. They drew their first match and also took the lead today. They are a good team with many talented players. Most of their players play in Europe and understand the pace and intensity of high-level competition. They have excellent mental toughness and strong physical presence. However, I am very happy that we ultimately won this match.

When the final whistle blew, your teammates were all very excited, embracing each other and in high spirits. But you seemed very calm. What were you thinking at that moment?

I wasn't thinking too much, actually. I have experienced many achievements before. At that time, I was concerned about our player Abdelmagid; I thought he might have had a concussion. As captain, I am very close to everyone on the team and try to pay attention to every teammate's condition.

At the same time, I also want to show respect to our opponents. But everything that happened today is historic for us Egyptians. For other teams, winning a match may not be anything special; you see many teams do it all the time. But for Egypt, such moments are rare. I think this might be the first time in our history. I am fortunate to be able to say this. In the past three or four decades, we have qualified for the FIFA World Cup only twice, and I have been fortunate to be part of both occasions and score goals in both.

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