Egyptian hero
Mohamed Salah became star to children of Nile delta
TANTA, Egypt — Deep in Egypt’s Nile Delta region, the children of Nagrig village have a clear goal in life: they want to become soccer stars like Mohamed Salah.
Salah (pictured), who hails from their village, has been a sensation in England since joining Liverpool — setting a new Premier League scoring record for a 38-game campaign with 32 goals.
In addition to grabbing the Golden Boot, Salah was named the Professional Footballers’ Association Player of the Year, voted for by his fellow pros.
But a shoulder injury sustained in the Champions League final loss to Real Madrid has left Egyptians praying their star forward will be fit for the country’s first World Cup appearance in 28 years.
The good news is that he is recovering very well and the Egyptian Football Federation said last week the injury will not keep him out for longer than three weeks, meaning he should be fit to play at least some part in the country’s World Cup campaign.
The 25-year-old cemented his status as a national hero with his prominent role in qualifying and the team’s coach, Argentine Hector Cuper, said the Pharaohs are banking on him in Russia.
Salah’s presence in the national team, fitness permitting, fulfills two objectives, said sports analyst Yasser Ayoub.
“The first is his personal performance and the goals he can score, and the second is that his presence provides the team an opportunity because the opposing teams assign players to monitor Salah. With Salah on the pitch, the other teams will be as if they’re missing players,” said Ayoub.
Aware that his success has become an inspiration for children in Egypt and Africa, Salah addressed his young fans in his acceptance speech when he was crowned African player of the year in January. “Never stop dreaming, never stop believing,” he told them.
In Nagrig as well as in Basyoun, the closest town, youth centers have been renamed after the Egyptian star.
While the house of the player’s father, Salah Ghali, resembles others in the village, it was quieter: no-one was looking out of an open window, and no clothes hung from the house.
The village has been the focus of huge media interest as Salah has risen to superstardom, but family members at his house in Nagrig refused to talk to reporters “out of respect for his wishes”.
Long journey
Salah’s journey, figuratively as well as literally, was anything but easy.
“His talent clearly showed from the beginning,” said Ghamri Abdel-Hameed el-Saadani, who was the junior coach at the Nagrig Youth Center, where Salah started training at the age of eight.
Still, Salah’s success is not just due to his talent, “it’s also a product of a will of steel, effort, and determination”, said Saadani.
The mayor of the village, Maher Shateyya, a family friend, bursts with pride when he talks about Nagrig’s most famous son.
“Mohamed was only 14 when he joined the Arab Contractors club in Cairo, and he had to spend nearly 10 hours a day in transport to make it to and from practice,” said Shateyya of Salah’s “journey of torment”.
Nagrig to Basyoun, then to Tanta city, the capital of Al-Gharbiya province, then a bus to downtown Cairo, and a final ride to the Nasr City neighbourhood where the club is located.
Salah grew up in a sporty family, with his father and two uncles having played soccer at the youth club in Nagrig.
“In the beginning, Salah played with the team in Basyoun town, then he moved to Tanta city before he was taken by the Arab Contractors team.”
Starting in the under-15s, Salah spent five years there before his talent earned him a move abroad to Swiss club Basel.
From Basel, Salah moved to Chelsea but failed to nail down a regular first-team spot. His career really took off in Italy, where eye-catching performances for Roma caught Liverpool’s attention and he signed last year in a deal that could eventually be worth $60.8 million.
Traditional family
Salah was raised in a traditional family where both his parents had government jobs. In addition to his government role, Salah’s father also traded in Jasmine flowers, Nagrig’s main harvest exported for perfume production.
Salah married Magi, a fellow Nagrig resident, when he was 20. The couple have a daughter, Makka, named after the Saudi Arabian city that is home to Islam’s holiest site.
The Liverpool winger still spends his annual leave with his family in Nagrig, where he has never forgotten his roots.
Among his donations is money used to build an intensive care unit at Basyoun Central Hospital, said Saadani.
“He is very modest... eight-year-old Mohamed is the same Mohamed (as he is now), Africa’s top player.”