Van Dijk sends AFCON message to Salah and Mane

Liverpool defender Virgil Van Dijk has enjoined Senegal’s Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah of Egypt to make the Reds proud at the 2022 Africa Cup of Nations, which begins January 9.

Mane and Salah scored a goal each in Liverpool’s 2-2 draw against Chelsea on Sunday before they were released for the trip to Cameroon.

Van Dijk, in his message to Salah and Mane, said they should give everything to win the tournament.

“We will keep going. Good luck to our African players at Afcon, make us proud,” Van Dijk said per King Fut.

“I just told Sadio and Mo: ‘I wish you all the best in the Africa cup’. You’re already legends there, but everyone knows how it feels to play for your country.

“Go and try with everything you have and try and win it. Then you become an even bigger legend.

“They have the right to fight for prizes, each prize that comes, as we all have the right to fight for prizes.”

Senegal will begin their Group B campaign against Zimbabwe on January 10 while Egypt face Nigeria in Group D on January 11.