'I had to do it': Salah says after taking coolest of penalties in World Cup victory

[p]The former Liverpool superstar and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/egypt/bejDn7NN/"]Egypt[/a] captain stepped up third in the shootout for his country and scored a "Panenka" as they beat [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/australia/xSrf6qMM/"]Australia[/a] 4-2 on penalties after the [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/australia-xSrf6qMM/egypt-bejDn7NN/?mid=Whg00tL7"]game ended 1-1 in Texas[/a].[/p][p]Egypt, who won a World Cup knockout game for the first time, face Lionel Messi's [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/argentina/f9OppQjp/"]Argentina[/a] next.[/p][p]The 34-year-old [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/salah-mohamed/08FBycgB/"]Salah[/a] was clearly hampered by a hamstring strain, but played the whole 120 minutes and stepped up for his country when they needed him.[/p][p][b]"If somebody was going to do it, it would be me. I am more experienced than others and I wanted to give them confidence,"[/b] said Salah, who had looked emotional afterwards.[/p][p][b]"I decided last minute, I had to do it."[/b][/p][embed guid="6fed8336-ecec-4071-a2b3-c4839d16e367" url="https://x.com/EgyptNT_EN/status/2073151654635983021" social-type="twitter" /][p]Salah proclaimed "history" for Egypt and told his team-mates to enjoy it, after the great underachievers of African football finally made their mark on the biggest stage.[/p][p]Salah could well be at his last World Cup, and said: [b]"I always try to enjoy every moment because it does not come back.[/b][/p][p][b]"So I always tell the boys, 'just enjoy the moment', and probably we'll see tonight in a few minutes how we're going to celebrate outside the bus now.[/b][/p][p][b]"But we can't take it for granted because Egypt - I don't know how many times I've said the word - but it's never before we qualified in a group stage and never qualified for the next round, so it's just a moment to enjoy."[/b][/p][embed guid="76c47ddd-1f66-4dcb-bdae-a3477256db8f" url="https://x.com/FIFAWorldCup/status/2073166870803280217" social-type="twitter" /][p]Egypt coach Hossam Hassan had said on Thursday that he was "not sure" if the talisman would be fit to start.[/p][p]But Hassan named him in a starting XI that also included Manchester City's Omar Marmoush in attack.[/p][p]Aside from his penalty in the shootout, Salah has one goal and two assists so far at the tournament in North America and averages a goal every other game for his country.[/p][infobox id="4ccc1b10-d68f-4c97-bcf4-5e613c17c2e3" /]