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<p>SEATTLE (AP) — Egypt&#8217;s <a href="https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-world-cup">World Cup</a> opener against Belgium on Monday will pit former Liverpool standout Mohamed Salah in an underdog role against longtime <a href="https://apnews.com/article/world-cup-belgium-kevin-de-bruyne-fe1589407867e4c13659276fe9302e69">Manchester City stalwart Kevin De Bruyne</a> and his talented teammates.</p>
<p>Egypt has never won a World Cup match and has led only once in seven games. Still, the Pharaohs insist they are to be taken seriously in Group G.</p>
<p>Aside from Salah, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/mohamed-salah-liverpool-premier-league-422a6792b1cfbbf388efd1ce9e4d4e9e">who has yet to decide where he will play next after a nine seasons with Liverpool,</a> Egypt&#8217;s attack features Omar Marmoush of <a href="https://apnews.com/hub/manchester-city-fc">Manchester City.</a> The tandem of Salah and Marmoush has caught the eye of Belgium manager Rudi Garcia, who coached the former when he played for Roma.</p>
<p>&#8220;Obviously, they&#8217;ve got other qualities, they&#8217;ve got other players,&#8221; Garcia said Sunday in French. &#8220;This is a team that is always raring to go. They&#8217;re a solid team that needs to be respected.&#8221;</p>
<p>Egypt coach Hossam Hassan was quietly confident ahead of the match. Hassan, Egypt&#8217;s career scoring leader with 69 international goals, netted one against Algeria in 1990 to propel Egypt to one of its four World Cup appearances.</p>
<p>Hassan said Egypt&#8217;s goal is to advance past the group stage in the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/world-cup-numbers-4220a25c3efb04fc59c15b4d081556d9">expanded field.</a></p>
<p>&#8220;We have some negative perception here because we have not participated, except for four times in the World Cup,&#8221; Hassan said in Arabic. &#8220;But I think now we have a generation that deserves to be here.&#8221;</p>
<p>Even so, the odds will be against Hassan&#8217;s squad for reasons beyond having to play at noon local time amid a heat wave in Seattle. The Belgian side features holdovers from the &#8220;Golden Generation&#8221; like De Bruyne and goalkeeper Thibault Courtois, as well as rising stars such as <a href="https://apnews.com/article/world-cup-belgium-jeremy-doku-fitness-90d10c072c62fad6ec365951439be099">winger Jérémy Doku.</a></p>
<p>&#8220;As I said at the outset, the Belgian squad is an amazing one, a star-studded one,&#8221; Hassan said. &#8220;I respect the Belgian national team. It goes without saying that the entire world is very well aware of what they are capable of.&#8221;</p>
<p>Yet Egypt believes it can compete, having beaten Belgium three times in four exhibition matches.</p>
<p>&#8220;We would like to have history repeat itself,&#8221; Hassan said.</p>
<p>Belgium faces pressure to avoid repeating its performance in 2022 in Qatar, when it did not advance beyond the group stage. The Belgians finished third in 2018 in Russia.</p>
<p>Belgium will need to shut down Salah, or at the very least slow down the four-time Premier League Golden Boot winner. Salah, who slumped by his standards in his final season with Liverpool, had nine goals and three assists in six World Cup qualifying matches.</p>
<p>&#8220;It goes without saying that Mohamed Salah is important,&#8221; Hassan said. &#8220;(But), everyone is important.&#8221;</p>
<p>Hassan believes Egypt can pull off an upset because of the players around Salah.</p>
<p>&#8220;We have many talents besides Salah, besides Marmoush,&#8221; Hassan said. &#8220;We have very good players, and, God willing, people will watch them and they will be a contributing factor to their country.&#8221;</p>
<hr />
<p>AP World Cup: <a href="https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-world-cup">https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-world-cup</a></p>

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