Jamie Carragher has been slammed over an ‘incredibly disappointing’ comment he made about the Africa Cup of Nations following Liverpool’s huge Premier League victory over Manchester City.
Mohamed Salah once again stole the show on Sunday, scoring and providing an assist as Liverpool beat Man City 2-0 at the Etihad Stadium to move 11 points clear at the top of the Premier League.
The conversation turned to Salah’s Ballon d’Or credentials after Liverpool’s win, with the Egyptian enjoying arguably his best-ever season at Anfield, scoring 25 goals and making 16 assists in the Premier League alone.
It was then that Carragher suggested the fact Salah does not feature in ‘major international tournaments’ could be the reason he has been repeatedly overlooked for the Ballon d’Or.
While Egypt have made little to impact at World Cups – only qualifying for one tournament since 1994 – Salah has helped his nation reach two AFCON finals.
‘I think the problem [is] the fact he’s with Egypt, and he’s probably not playing in the major tournament as such or maybe got a great chance of winning,’ Carragher said on Sky Sports.
‘I think it’s either the Champions League or the major tournament… normally, the player who excels in that, like Vini Jr and Kylian Mbappe right now, Real Madrid look really good going for the Champions League. Liverpool will be in that conversation too. Right now he [Salah] is certainly the front runner.
‘If he gets more trophies and titles, that could put him above Kenny Dalglish and Steven Gerrard in terms of where he ranks in Liverpool legends because right now he’s right on their shoulders.’
Responding to Carragher’s comments, fellow ex-England defender Micah Richards said: ‘I’ll just say, AFCON is a major tournament.
‘A lot of people at home will say they’re taking that seriously. AFCON is a major tournament, just so you know.’
Carragher then said: ‘Egypt are not going to win the World Cup are they?’
To which Richards replied: ‘No, but AFCON is big. Remember when him and [Sadio] Mane was going for it.’
Carragher then muttered ‘oh my god’ before Richards said: ‘I’m just saying.’
Former Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge added: ‘It’s a fact, it’s a fact.
‘If you win the Euros or the Copa America it’s deemed to be a big so the AFCON is in the same level.’
Carragher’s comments were described as ‘flippant’ and ‘incredibly disappointing’ in a post on X which has been viewed more than 1.5m times.
‘Jamie Carragher arguing that Salah being from Egypt therefore not able to win a major competition may stop him from winning Ballon d’Or,’ football fan Leo Haider wrote.
‘Micah Richards correctly points out AFCON is a major competition. Carragher scoffs and says “seriously”. Incredibly disappointing.’
Posting a clip of the exchange, the fan added: ‘Jamie Carragher flippantly disregarding AFCON being a major tournament on Sky Sports tonight.’
Ivory Coast won the last Africa Cup of Nations on home soil last year, beating Nigeria 2-1 in the final.