Spotlight: Mohamed Salah

Mohamed Salah is one of the most prolific athletes in the modern era. From his humble beginnings in a small town in Egypt, his Euro matches both domestic and international always become a one-man show whenever he is on the First XI roster. 

Today, we will be turning our spotlight on the greatest footballer in the world right now. 

Profile

Full Name: Mohamed Salah Hamed Mahrous Ghaly

Birthplace: Nagrig, Egypt

Role: Forward

Domestic Squad: Liverpool

National Squad: Egypt

Early Life

Salah grew up in the small town of Nagrig in the Gharbia Governorate in Egypt on June 15, 1992. He started his footballing career at the Egyptian club, El Mokawloon, where he played most of his youth. At a young age, he became instrumental in most of the team’s goals from 2010 to 2012 editions of Euro matches.

He briefly played for the Swiss team, Basel, for two years, with 47 appearances. The Swiss side qualified for the Champions League 2013/2014 where the world saw his prolific skills for the first time. 

Domestic Career

In 2014, English Premier League club, Chelsea, bought Mohamed Salah for 13 million. He made history by being the first-ever Egyptian player to play on the English side. However, his spell at Chelsea was not fruitful, and only had 11 appearances for the club most notably a.

Salah transferred to the Italian side Florentina and later to Roma where he spent a brief spell in Italian football. 

The Egyptian forward made a significant breakthrough when he joined Liverpool in 2017 for US$ 47 million, which also marks his return to the English topflight league. Salah became the first Egyptian player to wield the iconic red jersey of Liverpool. 

During his debut season at the Reds, he has made a significant record of 44 goals in all of his 26 appearances at the Euro matches. However, despite having a memorable campaign in the 2017-18 season of the Champions League, Liverpool lost to Real Madrid 3-1. 

In the 2019/20 edition of the Champions League, Mohamed Salah became instrumental in the momentous victory of Liverpool against Chelsea at the tournament’s final. As a result, he was hailed the best player at the prestigious Ballon d’Or award. 

International Career

Aside from his thriving club footballing career, Salah also was equally successful in his international football side. His first appearance representing the Egyptian national team was in 2011 when they played against Niger in the qualifiers round of the Africa Cup of Nations. 

Meanwhile, in the 2017 AFCON semi-finals, Salah converted a penalty shootout which helped them move forward into the final round of the African football competition. However, despite having a remarkable performance, Egypt was defeated by Cameroon with a 2-1 score.

The most significant feat of Salah currently was when he became instrumental in assisting Egypt to reach the qualifying round at the 2018 FIFA World Cup, which broke a drought of opportunities since 1990. As a token of appreciation and pride for his home country, the government named a school in Egypt after him.

At the competition, Salah was absent during the first match of Egypt against Uruguay because of his shoulder injury that he got from the Champions League Euro matches. Egypt was lost to the host nation, Russia despite scoring for penalty. Egypt ended up at the bottom barrel of Group A, yielding to Russia and Uruguay.

Playing Style

Mohamed Salah plays as a forward in most of his appearances both in club and international football. During his brief stint at Florentina and Roma, the world saw his deadly moves as an attacker for the first time. 

Salah was widely known for his speed and agility on the pitch. Upon receiving the ball, he can quickly come up with a shooting opportunity at the drop of a hat. Additionally, his dribbling skills are phenomenal which is very instrumental in defenses. 

There is no doubt, that Salah was the most prolific goalscorer at his longtime club, Liverpool. He was responsible for some of the iconic goals of the club across the Euro matches. Salah knew how to quickly maneuver throughout the pitch and when he saw an opportunity to shoot, he would never hesitate to score for the team. 

Honors

Salah received a whole slew of titles and achievements throughout his footballing career. Here is a list of a few achievements of Mohamed Salah:

African Footballer of the Year (2017, 2018)

Champions League Winner (2018/2019)

Player of the Year (2012/2013, 2017/2018)

FIFA Puskas Award (2018)

Top Goal Scorer (2017, 2018, 2019, 2022)

Summary

Mohamed Salah is one of the iconic players right now in Euro matches and the items on the list of his achievements continue to pile up. He is truly the footballing world’s “The Pharaoh” and the pride of Egypt!