Sports

Mohammed Sallah @ 28: Pharaoh At Liverpool

Published

4 years ago

June 15, 2020

gwg

By Ekene Dike

A man christened as “the Pharaoh of Egypt” for his breathtaking performances on the football pitch for both Liverpool and Egypt, Mohammed Salah is a phenomenon!

Hitherto, he played for five different clubs, before making a blockbuster move to Anfield in 2017 where his football career rocketed to the highest level.

From being rated as a mediocre player, Mohammed Salah at Chelsea, is now regarded as one of the best players in the world, the best to emerge from his country and even the African continent as a whole.

The meteoric rise in his career is quite commendable as he has attained milestones in a short period.

His first season at Liverpool was sensational. He broke the Premier League goalscoring record of the highest number of goals scored in a single Premier League season after scoring 32 goals in 36 league games which earned him the much cherished golden boot.

That same season, he was named as the PFA Players’ player of the season, and was third in the 2018 Best FIFA Men’s Player of the season.

Not surprisingly, he became a fans favorite at Liverpool. As a result of his success on the football pitch, he put Egypt on the global map and he was very much adored and celebrated in his country.

However, Salah’s delightful story turned sour when he suffered a broken arm after a tussle to win the ball with Real Madrid’s Sergio Ramos in the UEFA Champions League Final in 2018.

The broken arm prevented him from playing the first match for Egypt in the opening match of the 2018 World Cup and he could only save them from lesser humiliation by scoring two goals in the subsequent matches as they disappointingly crashed out in the group stage.

Moving on, he helped Liverpool win the Champions League in 2019 and also won the golden boot for the second time running. But this time, he was the joint top scorer alongside Pierre Emerick Aubameyang and his fellow teammate Sadio Mane.

Jurgen Klopp has given Salah the liberty to play from the flanks and as a central forward which has made him crucial to the unfolding Liverpool success story.

He is indeed, an integral part of the present Liverpool side that are on the brink of winning the Premier League in grand style after their 44 matches unbeaten streak came to an end. His style of play is really adorable as he possesses great goal scoring abilities, electrifying pace and superb vision to provide assists for his teammates.

Furthermore, he has represented Egypt at the 2012 Summer Olympics, 2017 Africa Cup of Nations where he led the team to the Final and the FIFA World Cup in 2018 and has won the crown as Africa’s best footballer two times. Sponsorship deals are also among the feathers on his hat.

Apart from football, he is revered for his magnanimity. He has fostered the development of the standard of living among 65% of the population of people at Nagrig, his hometown.

On the occasion of his 28th birthday, he deserves to be celebrated for being a great entertainer on the football pitch and notable personality in the society.

Honors:

Basel