In-form Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah has been labelled "one of the best players in the world" by his Egypt coach Hector Cuper.
The 25-year-old continued his impressive goalscoring form with the opener in the Pharaohs' 2-1 loss against European champions Portugal on Friday evening.
Salah already has 35 goals for the campaign at club level and remains on course to score more goals in a single season than any other player in Premier League history.
Cuper admits the importance of having the former Chelsea and Roma star in his ranks ahead of the World Cup, telling reporters after the defeat in Zurich: "I think that without a doubt Salah is one of our best players. I always say that behind a great player there has to be a great team.
"I don't know if we are a great team but we cover what Salah gives us, we try to give as much security as we can as a team and until now we were able to achieve things.
"We know that as we raise the bar we have to raise the level up. I think Salah is one of the best players in the world right now and I don't know if he can be the best player in the world but what he's doing now is really important."
Salah now has five goals in his last two matches, netting four of those in the comfortable win over Watford prior to the international break.