Chechen fans bring smile to Salah's face with 100kg cake

[June 16, 2018]  GROZNY, Russia (Reuters) - Egypt forward Mohamed Salah might have had a forgettable 26th birthday as his team lost to Uruguay in their World Cup opener on Friday, but a group of fans from Chechnya brought a smile to his face with a 100kg cake decorated with a golden boot.

Salah, who scored 44 goals for Liverpool last season, injured shoulder ligaments in the Champions League final defeat by Real Madrid on May 26 and was not risked in Egypt's 1-0 Group A loss to Uruguay in Yekaterinburg.

Egypt's talisman, who is expected to play in their remaining group games with Russia and Saudi Arabia, was presented with the two-tier cake in the colors of the national flag on the team's arrival at their training base of Grozny early on Saturday.

Salah smiled and hugged his team mates as they sang 'Happy Birthday' in English and Arabic before blowing out the candles and heading to his room.

Player of the Egyptian national soccer team Mohamed Salah receives a cake, weighing 100 kilograms and decorated with a golden football boot, as a present on his birthday during a ceremony in the Chechen capital Grozny, Russia June 16, 2018. REUTERS/Alkhazur Kerimov

Egypt take on hosts Russia in St Petersburg on Tuesday.

(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Yekaterinburg; Editing by Ken Ferris)

[© 2018 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2018 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.  Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.