By Pearl Josephine Nazare
VANCOUVER, June 20 (Reuters) - Egypt coach Hossam Hassan dismissed talk of unrest involving talisman Mohamed Salah, insisting there were no issues within the squad as they prepare to face New Zealand in their crucial World Cup Group G match at BC Place on Sunday.
Salah, 34, scored nine goals in the qualifying campaign and provided an assist for Emam Ashour in their opener with Belgium.
He was substituted in the 76th minute of that 1-1 draw in Seattle, with highly-rated teenager
Hamza Abdelkarim coming on.
New Zealand also opened their campaign by sharing the points in a 2-2 draw with Iran in California, leaving the group finely poised ahead of Sunday's encounter.
"Salah is an important player for our squad, and the 26 players who are here with me are very important," Hassan told reporters. "Every player who has worked with me knows I deal with them in a professional manner. I do not have favourites.
"Salah is a great player who helps his teammates. He has a lot of discipline and is a role model.
"If he starts ... or if he gets substituted, it's fine. It is his role as a player. Everyone knows that I am working for the benefit of the team and the national side.
"Rumours are being spread about stars, about players, about teams. But Salah is someone who is very disciplined," he added.
"He trains with us. He's the first player that would also say yes to my decisions as a technical director. So I think he will be very positive tomorrow."
Egypt and New Zealand are both targeting their first-ever World Cup win to boost their chances of reaching the knockout stage. The Egyptians are appearing at their fourth finals.
"We want to present something very positive," Hassan said.
"We want to show that we have talent, not as something new, but as something that the African national squads have always had as a tradition throughout generations of footballers in Africa, for us and for international football ...
"We drew in the first match and we want to win and secure these points. This is our ambition for tomorrow, this is the ambition of the Egyptian people, for Egyptian football and for African football as well. We are representing all of these people and we really hope to perform."
(Reporting by Pearl Josephine Nazare in Vancouver; Editing by Ken Ferris)
