From Blues flop to African king
HONOURED: BANYANA SCOOP AWARD
Accra
It took Mohamed Salah just three years to transform from a Chelsea reject to being crowned African Player-of-the-Year on Thursday. Salah failed to blossom after moving from Swiss outfit Basel to Stamford Bridge, leading to him being lent to Serie A sides Fiorentina and AS Roma, then sold to the latter.
At Roma, his career took off as he scored 29 goals in two seasons and created 17 others to draw the attention of several English Premier League suitors.
Liverpool made a successful £34.3 million bid and Salah has not looked back since, scoring 23 goals in 29 matches in all competitions.
He has made a habit of bagging braces with the most recent helping Liverpool come from behind at home to edge Leicester City 2-1 last month.
Seventeen of the goals have come in the Premier League, placing him second in the scorers’ charts, only one goal behind Harry Kane of Tottenham Hotspur.
Apart from his Liverpool exploits, Salah last year helped resurgent Egypt finish Africa Cup of Nations runners-up and reach the World Cup for the first time since 1990.
The African Player-of-the-Year title completed an awards hattrick after he was named BBC African Footballer-of-the-Year in December and Arab Player-of-the- Year earlier this week.
It is a far cry from a few years ago when Salah was doubting whether he could ever become a regular scorer in a major European league.
Although no South African managed to win an individual award, the national women’s team Banyana Banyana did manage to get onto the scoreboard on the night by claiming the prize as the women’s Team-of-the-Year.
Caretaker Banyana coach Desiree Ellis led the women’s team to glory in the Cosafa Cup in Zimbabwe in September, beating the hosts 2-1 in the final. – AFP