Salah targets his biggest trophy ever after Egypt ginger

Mo Salah hopes to secure the biggest trophy of his career after firing Egypt into the Africa Cup of Nations quarter-final.

Liverpool forward Salah scored the decisive penalty as Egypt overcame Ivory Coast in a penalty shootout after a fraught 0-0 draw, with Manchester United centre-half Eric Bailly the only player not to convert from 12 yards.

The Pharaohs will face Morocco in the last eight and Salah is particularly eager to carry his national side one step further than 2017, when they were beaten in the final by 2022 hosts Cameroon.

“Of course I want to win something with the national team,” he said. “It’s my country, what I love the most.

“This trophy for me would be completely different, would be the closest to my heart.

“We were close before to win this African Cup, we gave it everything but we were not lucky to win it.

“But it’s OK, now we are here in the new one. We have to fight for it, we have to give everything to win it and I’m sure the players have the same feeling.

The seven-time champions were first to threaten when striker Omar Marmoush rattled the bar with a curling 17th-minute effort, and Ivory Coast keeper Badra Sangare had to tip over Salah’s dipping attempt.

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However, the Elephants responded as the half-time whistle approached when Ibrahim Sangare forced Mohamed El Shenawy into a 39th-minute stop with an acrobatic volley before the keeper repelled Sebastien Haller’s strike from distance in stoppage time.

Early in the second half, Egypt’s Amr El Soleya fired wastefully over from Salah’s square ball and Mohamed Elneny saw his deflected cross scrambled away by Badra Sangare.