Mohamed Salah has hailed the team spirit instilled by Egypt manager Hector Cuper as one of the side’s biggest strengths going into the World Cup.

“We play differently with Hector Cuper than with our previous coach [Shawky Gharib],” the 25-year-old talisman said in an interview with Marca.

“We are strong as a group, we all have the same goal, to help the team win the game, that is the most important thing.

“But I can’t say only one strong point, the main one is that we all play together.”

The Liverpool forward laughed out allusions to Cuper’s tough-nosed, hard-man reputation, saying the Argentine’s style has helped Egypt improve.

“He has great experience, he is a good coach and he helps us improve our performance,” Salah said.

“He’s not hard, I think he’s a good coach, a good man. We all help each other.”

Salah elaborated on the help Cuper has provided, crediting his coach for his own tactical development.

“He’s helped me to defend better, but he also finds a way to make it easier to attack. I think I’ve improved with him.”

The Egyptian carries the hopes of a nation going into the World Cup, coming off a stunning season with Liverpool and having turned in inspirational performances for the Pharaohs during qualification.

His status as the country’s talisman for the next month comes with a great deal of pressure, but Salah says it’s no more than the pressure he puts on himself.

“The pressure was to qualify for the World Cup. Of course, someone can now say ‘ok, we’ve qualified, that’s it’.

“But for me it’s not like that, we want to make history, achieve something different.

“In my head the pressure is to achieve something different from what we have done. Not just going there, three games and thank you very much. That doesn’t go through my head.”