Salah fit to face Russia despite ongoing shoulder issue

Egyptian star Mohamed Salah, who's nursing a nagging shoulder injury, has been declared fit to face Russia on Tuesday.

The EFA said in a statement obtained by the BBC that Salah was cleared to play in Egypt's opening 1-0 defeat to Uruguay. Head coach Hector Cuper decided not to take the risk, leaving his marquee player on the bench for the full 90 minutes.

The 26-year-old suffered the injury in last month's Champions League final after a contentious coming-together with Real Madrid defender Sergio Ramos.

"Mo Salah is an extremely important player for us, nobody can deny that, but you need to have a good team, and we have a good team," Cuper said after Friday's contest. "Perhaps if Mo had been on the pitch today the outcome would have been different, but we can't know that."

Salah's five goals in qualifying helped Egypt reach its first World Cup in 28 years. He's also coming off a sensational Premier League campaign in which he scored 36 goals.