Mohamed Salah, a name synonymous with football, is a gift that keeps on giving. It is hard to imagine that the enigma joined Liverpool only in 2017 and is already their top scorer with 200+ goals.
He has brought immense success to Liverpool on the back of his glorious performances. It is not only at the club level that he has given his all but also for his country.
A regular for Egypt national team, Salah has scored 54 goals while playing for them over the years. Currently, Salah is on international duty with his national squad for the African Cup of Nations.
Egypt is in group B alongside Cape Verde, Mozambique and Ghana. They played their last group match yesterday against group toppers Cape Verde and in a tremendous nail-biter match.
Salah was supposed to complete the century of caps for his nation in this tournament while taking them to the finals but unfortunately an injury has stopped him in his tracks.
In the 2nd game of the group vs Ghana, the Egyptian forward picked up a tear in his hamstring and had to withdraw at half-time.
In recent updates from Liverpool and Egypt, it was seen that his injury might be long term (3-4 weeks) and hence it was decided mutually by both club and country that it is best for him to receive treatment at Anfield.
This was done in hopes of him getting quicker recovery so that he can be back with the national squad in case they make it to the finals.
However, this hasn’t gone well with some Egyptian fans. They are furious as to how a commanding leader and captain of the team could just leave like that. They need him more than ever, even if he can’t play then for his moral support and footballing wisdom.
Although loved by his countrymen for doing so much for football in the nation, this isn’t the first time he has been criticized. In 2021 when he was handed the captain’s armband, people were questioning as to why he was the choice when there were more experienced and deserving candidates ahead of him.
This time even the former Egypt captain Ahmed Hassan, in an interview with Daily Mirror had gone on to say that there was no need for Salah to go away, he should be there to support his squad, “no matter what, even if he only had one leg to stand on.”
We believe however, that these questions and clouds of doubt over his allegiance and dedication towards his nation are baseless.
Salah hasn’t done exceptionally well in the tournament, and Egypt have only been able to gather three draws, just barely scraping to the knockout stage. But he has accepted the responsibility in his pre-match interview before the latest game already.
“No worries about that. I accept it openly. I played in one-and-a-half matches only. Maybe the performance wasn’t the best in the first match.”
– Salah on being criticized for playing bad
What has really assured us of our stance is the latest short video making rounds on the internet where Salah can be seen cheering hard for his team from the sidelines.
The scene in question contains footage of Salah jumping with joy with his teammates, forgetting all about his injury, after his team scored a 93rd min goal to take a lead in the match vs Cape Verde.
Such pure passion should not get unnoticed and should shed any doubts people have over his loyalty. This shows how much he loves his country and wants them to win even if he is not on the field.
Even his team reciprocates the love and respect for the player and admire him wholeheartedly. The goal scorer Mostafa was seen dedicating the goal to his captain, holding Mo Salah’s shirt as a celebration.
Even his trip to the UK is in hopes of getting back sooner than Egypt’s facilities allow him to, so that he can be of help to his team to clinch the title.
