Salah vows ‘revenge’ in rallying cry (VIDEO)

Liverpool's Egyptian king Mo Salah has called upon his teammates to exact a measure of revenge against Sadio Mane and his Senegalese teammates when they meet again next month after Egypt were defeated in the Africa Cup on Nations final by the slimmest of margins.

A decisive spot kick from Salah's Liverpool teammate Mane was enough to claim Senegal's first ever triumph in African football's showpiece game last weekend - with Salah not even getting the opportunity to take a penalty after two his teammates fluffed their lines from the penalty spot beforehand.

A dejected Salah was commiserated by Sane in the immediate aftermath of the dramatic penalty shootout, but despite his club colleague's act of sportsmanship, Salah told his teammates afterwards in the locker room that they must avenge the loss next month.

As fate would have it, Egypt and Senegal are to meet in a two-legged World Cup qualifier on March 23 and 29 - and as Salah told his teammates after their penalty shootout loss, failure isn't an option this time around.

“I want to thank you for these performances, you all gave your best. We played four matches all 120 minutes in about 12 days,”  Salah told his teammates in a clip which has been leaked to social media, after translation.

“But it's in the past now, we have the games against them next month and god willing, we will take revenge on them.” 

READ MORE: Salah ‘trolled’ by referee during AFCON heartbreak (VIDEO)

The game is again a high stakes affair, with the winners getting a place in this year's World Cup in Qatar. The first leg will take place in Cairo, with the return leg kicking off in Dakar six days later.

Between now and then, however, both Salah and Mane will be required to get back onto the same page as Liverpool face a pivotal list of fixtures starting this weekend against Premier League side Leicester before an away Champions League trip to Italian champions Inter Milan next week.

Salah has been enjoying a tremendous season in the English top flight. His 16 Premier League goals have him far ahead of his rivals in the race for the Golden Boot in what has been another exemplary season on Merseyside for the Egyptian star.

However, Liverpool and Jurgen Klopp face an anxious wait to see if Salah will agree terms on a new contract at Anfield lest they face the prospect of losing their top star to free agency when his current deal expires in the summer of 2023.

But if there was something of a sour mood in Cairo after the AFCON final, it was considerably less so in Senegal when the champions returned home - with Chelsea goalkeeper and penalty shootout hero Edouard Mendy capturing the raucous reaction when they paraded the trophy to throngs of delighted fans in Dakar.