The Liverpool man was nowhere near his usual self and his country now face early elimination from the World Cup as the hosts progress
By the time the real Mohamed Salah finally stood up, it was already too late.
Clearly rushed back into the Egypt side, despite official declarations that he was fit enough to start their opening game last Friday, the Liverpool man could only rally himself, and his country, when they were already 3-0 down and facing the possibility of World Cup elimination as early as Wednesday afternoon.
After 67 minutes of loose touches and little else, Salah did at least provide a cameo of what could have been, had he not injured his shoulder in the Champions League final just over three weeks ago.