Mohamed Salah Ghaly (Arabic: ???? ???? ????? , Egyptian Arabic pronunciation: [mæ'?am.mæd s??'l?:? '?æ:li]; born 15 June 1992) is an Egyptian professional footballer who plays as a forward for English club Liverpool and the Egyptian national team.
Salah started his senior career with hometown club El Mokawloon in the Egyptian Premier League in 2010, departing shortly thereafter to join Basel for an undisclosed fee. In Switzerland, he starred as he won the league title in his debut season, winning the SAFP Golden Player Award in the process. Salah's performances then attracted Premier League side Chelsea, and he joined the club for a £11 million fee in 2014. However, he was used sparingly in his debut season, and was allowed to leave on loan to Serie A clubs Fiorentina and Roma, with the latter eventually signing him permanently for EUR15 million.
Following consistent match-winning performances in Rome to lead them to second-placed finish and a record points-tally in 2017, Salah relocated back to the Premier League to sign for Liverpool for a then club-record fee of £36.9 million. During his second spell in England, Salah adapted his game from a natural winger to a complete forward, and quickly became the focal point of the team. He would go on to break the club's scoring record for a debut season, receiving the Premier League Golden Boot after registering a record 32 goals in 36 league games. He also became the first player to win three Premier League Player of the Month awards in the same season. His record breaking performances saw him receive a number of other accolades at the end of the 2017-18 season, including the PFA Players' Player of the Year, the Football Writers' Player of the Year, and the PFA Fans' Player of the Year awards. He was also named in the 2017-18 PFA Team of the Year.
At international level, Salah represented Egypt at youth level, winning a bronze medal in the Africa U-20 Cup of Nations, and participated in the 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup and the 2012 Summer Olympics. He was awarded the CAF Most Promising African Talent of the Year in 2012. Making his debut with the senior national team in 2011, he helped Egypt reach the final of the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations, and he became the top scorer during CAF qualification to help the team qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. For his performances, Salah was named CAF African Footballer of the Year and the BBC African Footballer of the Year. He was also selected in the CAF Team of the Year and Africa Cup of Nations Team of the Tournament.
Video Mohamed Salah
Club career
El Mokawloon
Salah played his youth football with El Mokawloon. The American football coach Bob Bradley saw Salah play during this period and noted his prodigious speed, explosiveness, and intelligence on the pitch, already evident at his young age. He made his senior team debut in the Egyptian Premier League coming on as a substitute on 3 May 2010 in a 1-1 away draw against El Mansoura. During the 2010-11 season Salah continued earning minutes on the pitch, eventually becoming a regular in the team. He scored his first goal for them on 25 December 2010 in a 1-1 away draw against El Ahly. He remained a regular for El Mokawloon, appearing in every game of the 2011-12 season. However, following the Port Said Stadium disaster, early February 2012, the Egyptian Premier League stopped and all subsequent matches were postponed. On 10 March 2012, the Egyptian Football Association announced their decision to cancel the remainder of the season.
Basel
Swiss Super League club Basel had been monitoring Salah for some time, and after the Port Said Stadium disaster the club organised a friendly match with the Egypt U-23 team. This match took place on 16 March in the Stadion Rankhof, in Basel, and despite Salah only playing during the second half, he scored twice. The game ended in a 4-3 win for the Egypt U-23 team. Basel subsequently invited Salah to remain in the city for a week's training. On 10 April 2012, it was announced that Salah had signed for Basel on a four-year contract starting from 15 June 2012.
Salah scored on his unofficial debut on 23 June 2012 against Steaua Bucure?ti during a friendly match, a 4-2 defeat. He made his official Basel debut in a UEFA Champions League preliminary stage match against the Norwegian club Molde on 8 August, coming on as a substitute in the 74th minute. He made his league debut on 12 August against Thun, playing the full match. He scored his first league goal a week later, the second goal in the 2-0 home win against Lausanne. Salah scored his first Europa League goal in the quarter-finals on 11 April 2013, as Basel advanced to the semi-finals by beating Tottenham Hotspur 4-1 on penalties after a 4-4 aggregate draw. In the semi-final on 2 May, Salah scored against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge, although they were beaten 2-5 on aggregate. Despite late disappointment in Europe, Basel comfortably won the Swiss Super League season 2012-13 Championship title and finished runners-up in the Swiss Cup.
To the start of the 2013-14 Swiss Super League season Salah was member of the Basel team that won the 2013 Uhrencup. Salah scored on his first league appearance against Aarau on 13 July 2013. He scored his first Champions League goal a month later against Maccabi Tel Aviv on 6 August 2013 in the third qualifying round. Before the first leg on 30 July 2013, Salah did not take part in the UEFA-mandated pre-match handshakes with Maccabi players. Basel called the incident a "coincidence" and said it was not intended as a snub. Salah was on pressure from several Egyptian voices demanding from him not to travel to Israel and then criticizing his visit. On the return leg in Tel Aviv, he took part in the handshake line, but offered fist bumps rather than an open hand to Maccabi players. He scored twice against the Bulgarian league champions PFC Ludogorets Razgrad on 21 August 2013 in the play-off round. On 18 September 2013, Salah scored the equalizer against Chelsea in the 2-1 away win during the group stage, During the return tie on 26 November at the St. Jakob-Park, Salah scored the winning goal as Basel beat Chelsea for the second time with a 1-0 home win.
Chelsea
On 23 January 2014, Chelsea announced that a deal had been agreed with Basel to bring Salah to London for a fee reported to be in the region of £11 million. Three days later the transfer was completed, making him the first Egyptian to sign for the Stamford Bridge club. On 8 February, Salah made his debut for Chelsea in the Premier League, coming on as a substitute in the 3-0 win over Newcastle United. On 22 March, Salah scored his first goal for Chelsea against Arsenal at Stamford Bridge in the London Derby, coming on as a substitute for Oscar, in a match which ended with a 6-0 win for the Blues. On 5 April, Salah opened the scoring and later won a penalty and an assist in Chelsea's 3-0 win over Stoke City.
Before the 2014-15 season, Salah's future with Chelsea looked to be in a balance after reports suggested he could be forced to return to Egypt to carry out military service after his registration for an education scheme was rescinded by the Egyptian Minister of Higher Education. He was spared of military service after the meeting with the then Egyptian prime minister Ibrahim Mahlab, the Minister of Higher Education and the Egyptian national manager Shawky Gharib. Salah changed squad numbers from 15 to 17 for the start of the season, with his new number having been vacated by Eden Hazard changing to number 10.
Salah was rarely used during the season. On 28 October 2014, in a 2-1 win at League Two club Shrewsbury Town in the fourth round of the League Cup, he took a shot that went so far off target that it went for a throw-in. After the game, he and fellow winger André Schürrle were criticised publicly by manager José Mourinho. Although Salah only made three league appearances before his loan move to Fiorentina, Mourinho stated that he would receive a replica winner's medal from the club for his contributions that season.
Loan to Fiorentina
On transfer deadline, 2 February 2015, Chelsea confirmed that Salah would play for the Italian club Fiorentina on an 18-month loan until the end of the 2015-16 season, as part of a transfer deal which saw Juan Cuadrado moving in the opposite direction. Salah chose the number 74 shirt in honor of the victims of the Port Said Stadium riot. Six days after signing, he made his Fiorentina debut coming off the bench in the 65th minute as a replacement for Joaquín in a 3-2 Serie A victory against Atalanta at the Stadio Artemio Franchi.
Salah made his first start for Fiorentina on 14 February against Sassuolo, scoring his first goal for the club in the 30th minute. He then provided an assist to Khouma Babacar just two minutes after scoring; the match ended in a 3-1 win for Fiorentina. Twelve days after that, Salah scored his first European goal for Fiorentina, as his side advanced to the Round of 16 of the Europa League, beating Tottenham 3-1 on aggregate. Salah scored the winning goal for Fiorentina against Internazionale on 1 March, his third goal in Serie A. Four days after that, Salah scored both of Fiorentina's goals in their 2-1 win away to Juventus in the Coppa Italia semi-final first leg.
At the end of the season, Fiorentina reportedly activated an option to make the loan move permanent, but Salah refused the move. Even though the loan agreement was for 18 months, Salah refused to return to Fiorentina and instead joined fellow Serie A club Roma.
Roma
On 6 August 2015, Salah joined Roma on a season-long loan for EUR5 million; with the option to make the deal permanent, for a reported EUR15 million. He made his debut on 22 August, as the new season began with a 1-1 draw at Hellas Verona. On 11 September 2015, ACF Fiorentina filed a complaint to FIFA with the claim that Chelsea alleging breach of contract when they allowed Salah to join Roma on loan.
On 20 September 2015, Salah scored his first goal of the season against Sassuolo to help Roma salvage a point as the match ended in a 2-2 draw. He went on to score in his following two matches, a 2-1 loss against Sampdoria and a 5-1 win against Carpi. On 25 October 2015, Salah returned to Artemio Franchi stadium, scoring the opener against his former Serie A side Fiorentina to help earn a fourth straight league win for Roma. In his return, Salah was also sent off after picking up a second yellow in the closing minutes of the game.
At the end of the season, Salah was named Player of the Season, finishing as the club's top goalscorer with 15 goals in all competitions (14 in Serie A) and six assists. On 3 August 2016, Roma made the deal permanent. He scored a hat-trick at the Stadio Olimpico on 6 November as Roma won 3-0 against Bologna.
Liverpool
2017-18
On 22 June 2017, Salah agreed a transfer to Liverpool. He signed a long-term contract with the Reds for an initial EUR42m fee that could rise to EUR50m. The fee was a club record, eclipsing the £35m spent on Andy Carroll in 2011. He was assigned the number 11 shirt previously worn by Roberto Firmino who instead switched to number 9. He joined the club on 1 July upon the opening of the summer transfer window, becoming Liverpool's first Egyptian player. He scored on his debut against Watford in a 3-3 draw on 12 August. On 24 August, Salah scored his second goal for Liverpool, in a 2017-18 UEFA Champions League play-off round 4-2 win (6-3 agg) against Hoffenheim, his first goal at Anfield. Three days later, Salah scored and assisted a goal in a 4-0 victory over Arsenal. For his performances in August, Salah was awarded Player of the Month by Liverpool supporters. On 17 October, Salah netted twice in a 7-0 Champions League win over Maribor, helping Liverpool to the joint-largest ever away win in the competition, and the largest away win by an English club.
On 26 November, Salah scored the opener and refused to celebrate in a 1-1 home draw with his former team Chelsea out of respect for the club as well as victims of the North Sinai Mosque attack two days earlier. Salah hit the top of the Premier League goal scoring charts by scoring twice after coming on as a substitute away at Stoke City on 29 November in a 3-0 win. The following month, Salah netted in a 4-0 win over Bournemouth; a result which saw Liverpool become the first team in Premier League history to win four consecutive away league matches by a margin of at least three goals. In the process, he also became the joint-second fastest player to reach 20 goals for Liverpool on his 26th appearance, only behind George Allan who reached the milestone in 19 appearances in 1895.
On 17 March 2018, Salah scored four goals in a 5-0 win over Watford, which was his first hat-trick for Liverpool. In this game, he also broke a record of scoring 36 times in his debut season for Liverpool, and also became the leading goalscorer in Europe's top five leagues - overtaking Barcelona's Lionel Messi and Tottenham striker Harry Kane. Following Salah's record breaking goal exploits former Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard stated "we are witnessing the start of greatness".
On 22 April 2018, Salah was awarded the PFA Players' Player of the Year award, having earlier been named in the PFA Team of the Year for the Premier League. Two days later, he scored a brace in a 5-2 Champions League semi-final first leg win over former club, Roma. In doing so, he simultaneously became the first player from Africa and the first Liverpool player to score 10 goals in a single campaign in the tournament. His double also took him to 43 goals for the season across all competitions, surpassing Roger Hunt's tally of 42, and making him Liverpool's second-highest goalscorer in a single season, behind Ian Rush. He had previously also broken the club's record for the Premier League era, surpassing Robbie Fowler's total of 36 goals set in the 1995-96 campaign, and Fernando Torres' record of 33 for the most goals by a Liverpool player in a debut season. After his two goals and assists in the first leg against Roma, Salah featured in the second leg as Liverpool beat Roma 6-7 on aggregate to qualify for the final for the first time in eleven years. He would then become the Premier League's all-time goalscorer for a 38 game season, registering his 32nd league goal in a 4-0 win against Brighton & Hove Albion en route to being awarded the Premier League Golden Boot.
In the 2018 UEFA Champions League Final against Real Madrid, Salah injured his left shoulder in the 30th minute. After initially carrying on, he left the field in tears after going to ground in a challenge with Madrid defender Sergio Ramos; the match ended in a 3-1 defeat. The Egyptian FA stated that this would have no effect on his playing at the 2018 World Cup in Russia and that Salah would still be named in the team's final squad on 4 June. The day after the match, Ramos wrote a message and sent him good wishes.
2018-19
On 2 July 2018, Salah signed a new long-term contract with Liverpool. Manager Jürgen Klopp said the news was important as a statement of intent in terms of Liverpool's status in the football world in having Salah commit himself further to the club.
Maps Mohamed Salah
International career
Salah made 11 appearances for the Egypt U-20 team and Egypt U-23 team, representing Egypt in both 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup and the 2012 Summer Olympics, scoring in all three of the team's group matches in the latter tournament, helping them to the quarter-finals.
On 3 September 2011, Salah made his debut for the Egypt national football team in the 2-1 away defeat by Sierra Leone. He scored his first goal for Egypt's first team in the 3-0 win against Niger one month later. He later scored a goal in the 93rd minute in stoppage time against Guinea to give Egypt an important 3-2 away victory in a 2014 World Cup qualifier.
On 9 June 2013, Salah scored a hat-trick in a 4-2 away win against Zimbabwe as Egypt won their fourth consecutive match in the World Cup qualifiers. A week later in the following match, he scored the only goal away to Mozambique, putting Egypt into the final qualifying group. Salah later scored his sixth goal in a qualification match to the joint-top scorer among all African teams in the qualification stages.
Salah was a member of the Pharaohs' squad for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations held in Gabon. On 25 January 2017, he scored in Egypt's 1-0 win over Ghana to secure first place in Group D. He went with the Egyptians all the way to the final, scoring twice and assisting two times in 6 games, earning him a place in the CAF Team of the Tournament.
Salah was the top scorer for Egypt with five goals during the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification, including both goals in the decisive 2-1 victory over Congo, one of which was a penalty in the last minute to make the Pharaohs reach their first World Cup finals since 1990. Despite doubts over his fitness following his shoulder injury, Salah was included in Egypt's 29-man provisional squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup and was included in their final 23-man squad on 4 June. He missed Egypt's opening match against Uruguay on 15 June, which the Pharaohs lost 1-0, conceding in the 89th minute. On 19 June, Salah scored a penalty in Egypt's 3-1 defeat to hosts Russia at the Krestovsky Stadium, Saint Petersburg. In Egypt's final group game on 25 June, Salah scored his second goal of the World Cup with a chip over the goalkeeper in Egypt's 2-1 defeat to Saudi Arabia at Volgograd Arena.
Style of play
A quick, mobile, hard-working and tactical player, with good technique and an eye for goal, Salah is predominantly known for his speed, dribbling skills, first touch, and ball control, as well as his ability to use both his pace and flair on the ball in order to beat opponents, and create scoring opportunities for himself or his teammates. A versatile forward, he primarily plays as a winger on the right flank, a position which allows him to cut into the centre onto his stronger left foot, and either shoot on goal or play quick exchanges with other players; he can also play in the centre behind the main striker as either an attacking midfielder or second striker. On his increased threat in front of goal since joining Liverpool, Salah credits Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp's request for him to occupy more central positions, with the forward telling ESPN, "I play closer to the goal than any club before."
Upon signing for Chelsea, José Mourinho said of Salah: "He's young, he's fast, he's creative, he's enthusiastic. When we analysed him he looks the kind of humble personality on the pitch, ready to work for the team." Mourinho went on to say that Salah has "similar qualities" with "talented players" that he had worked with, such as Gareth Bale and Arjen Robben. His technical skills, pace, position and direct playing style led him to be nicknamed the "Egyptian Messi", in the Italian media. Brazilian World Cup winner Ronaldo stated, "Salah is an incredible player with a tremendous quality. He looks like Messi."
Outside football
Media and sponsorship
Salah has a sponsorship deal with sportswear and equipment supplier Adidas: he wears Adidas X18 football boots. He appeared in an Adidas 2018 World Cup commercial along with other players in the Adidas stable, including David Beckham, Lionel Messi and Paul Pogba, and singer Pharrell Williams.
Salah features in EA Sports' FIFA video game series: on FIFA 18 he had a rating of 87 and a potential of 90 following his displays for Liverpool. In a 2018 poll by FIFPLAY, a website run and made for the game's fans, Salah ranked first (ahead of Lionel Messi) on who should be the global cover star for FIFA 19, obtaining 77 percent of the total number of votes.
Personal life
Mohamed Salah married Maggi in 2013. Their daughter, Makka, born in 2014 is named in honor of the Islamic holy city. Salah is Muslim and often celebrates goals by performing the sujood. Liverpool fans created a chant to the tune of Dodgy's "Good Enough", saying that if Salah continued to score goals, they would convert to Islam - "If he's good enough for you, he's good enough for me, if he scores another few, then I'll be Muslim too." Salah gave his approval to the chant, and it has been cited as an example of inclusivity. While Salah is devout to a degree that many other well-known Muslims sports figures are not (his wife wears a veil, for example), his charm and apolitical persona have made him a popular figure in the UK.
Salah is nicknamed "The Pharaoh" by the press and his fans. More recently, Salah was given the nickname "Egyptian King" by Liverpool supporters, arising from a chant set to the tune of "Sit Down" by English band James.
Following his goal that led Egypt to the World Cup finals for the first time since 1990, a school in Egypt was named after him. Following Egypt's exit from the World Cup, Salah stayed in his home country for his pre-season holiday. In late June, his address was accidentally leaked on Facebook. After this, crowds of fans showed up at Salah's house, with Salah greeting the fans and signing autographs for some, although according to reports in Spain, police did arrive to cordon off his house.
Controversy
At the 2018 FIFA World Cup, in which Egypt were based in Chechnya, Salah posed for several photographs with Ramzan Kadyrov after the Chechen leader made a surprise visit to his hotel room while the Egypt national team had been training in the stadium and requested a public photo with the star player. Kadyrov later gave him honorary citizenship of the Caucasian republic in a public dinner made for the whole Egypt national team and officials. Several western news outlets and NGOs criticised Salah and the EFA for their interactions with Kadyrov, citing the president's alleged human rights abuses and that the player is used for 'political propaganda' by the dictator during Egypt's national team training camp in Chechnya.
Charity
Salah is active in regeneration projects in Nagrig, his hometown where 65% of people live in poverty.
Career statistics
Club
- As of match played 26 May 2018
International
- As of match played 25 June 2018
International goals
- As of match played 25 June 2018. Egypt score listed first, score column indicates score after each Salah goal.
Honours
Club
Basel
- Swiss Super League: 2012-13
- Swiss Cup runner-up: 2012-13
Liverpool
- UEFA Champions League runner-up: 2017-18
International
Egypt U20
- African Youth Championship third place: 2011
Egypt
- Africa Cup of Nations runner-up: 2017
Individual
- CAF Most Promising Talent of the Year: 2012
- UAFA Golden Boy: 2012
- SAFP Golden Player: 2013
- El Heddaf Arab Footballer of the Year: 2013, 2017
- A.S. Roma Player of the Season: 2015-16
- Globe Soccer Best Arab Player of the Year: 2016
- CAF Team of the Year: 2016, 2017
- CAF Africa Cup of Nations Team of the Tournament: 2017
- Premier League Player of the Month: November 2017, February 2018, March 2018
- PFA Player of the Month: November 2017, December 2017, February 2018, March 2018
- African Footballer of the Year: 2017
- BBC African Footballer of the Year: 2017
- BBC Goal of the Month: December 2017, February 2018
- Goal's Arab Player of the Year: 2017
- PFA Players' Player of the Year: 2017-18
- FWA Footballer of the Year: 2017-18
- Premier League Golden Boot: 2017-18
- Premier League Player of the Season: 2017-18
- PFA Team of the Year: 2017-18 Premier League
- Liverpool F.C. Player of the Season: 2017-18
- Liverpool F.C. Players' Player of the Season: 2017-18
- PFA Fans' Player of the Year: 2017-18
- UEFA Champions League Squad of the Season: 2017-18
- Onze d'Argent: 2017-18
- Honorary Citizen of the Chechen Republic: 2018.
Records
- As of 13 May 2018
England
- Most goals in a 38-game Premier League season: 32 goals in 2017-18
- Most games scored in during a Premier League season: 24 games in 2017-18
- Most goals by an African player in Premier League season: 32 goals in 2017-18
- Most Premier League Player of the Month awards in a single season: 3 (November 2017, February 2018 and March 2018)
- Most left-footed goals ever scored in a single Premier League season: 25 goals in 2017-18
- Most teams scored against in a Premier League season: 17 teams (shared with Ian Wright and Robin van Persie)
- First player to outscore three Premier League teams: West Brom (31), Swansea City (28) and Huddersfield Town (28) in 2017-18
- Highest-scoring Egyptian in Premier League history: 34 goals in 49 games
Europe
- Most goals by an African player in a UEFA Champions League season: 11 goals in 2017-18
Liverpool
- Most goals in a debut season: 44 goals in 2017-18
- Most European goals in a season: 11 goals in 2017-18 (shared with Roberto Firmino)
- Most goals in a season by a Liverpool player in the Premier League era: 44 goals in 2017-18
- Most games scored in during a single campaign: 34 games in 2017-18
- Most top-flight goals in a season by a Liverpool player: 32 goals in Premier League 2017-18 (shared with Ian Rush)
- Most Liverpool Player of the Month awards in a season: 7 months in 2017-18
- Fastest Liverpool Player to 10 Premier League Goals: 13 games in 2017-18
- Fastest Player to Score 25 Liverpool Goals: 32 games in 2017-18
- Fastest Liverpool player to 20 Premier League Goals: 25 games in 2017-18
- Fastest Liverpool player to Score 40 Goals: 45 games in 2017-18
Egypt
- Egypt's all-time recordscorer in FIFA World Cup history: 2 Goals in FIFA World Cup 2018 (shared with Abdulrahman Fawzi, 2 Goals in FIFA World Cup 1934)
Performances
- FIFA World Cup qualification Top Goalscorer: 6 goals in 2014 (shared with Mohamed Aboutrika and Asamoah Gyan)
- FIFA World Cup qualification Top Goalscorer: 5 goals in 2018 (shared with Préjuce Nakoulma)
- A.S. Roma Top Goalscorer: 15 goals in 2015-16
- A.S. Roma Top Assist Provider: 15 assists in 2016-17
- Liverpool F.C. Top Goalscorer: 44 goals in 2017-18
References
External links
- Mohamed Salah profile at the Liverpool F.C. website
- Mohamed Salah - FIFA competition record
- Mohamed Salah - UEFA competition record
- Mohamed Salah at Soccerbase
Source of the article : Wikipedia