Salah retains African award to seal great day for Egypt
MOHAMED Salah completed a memorable day for Eg y ptian footba ll by retaining his African Player of the Year award in Senegal on Tuesday.
The 26-year-old Liverpool star finished first with club-mate Senegalese Sadio Mane and Arsenal and Gabon striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang t he ot her finalists.
“I have dreamt of winning t his award since I was a child and now I have done so t wice in a row,” Sala h said soon after receiv ing his trophy in Dakar.
“My thanks go to my family, my team-mates and my fans and I dedicate t his trophy to my homeland, Eg y pt.”
It was an identica l outcome to last year when Salah became only the second Eg y ptian after 1983 winner Mahmoud al Khatib to be voted the best footba ller in Africa.
Cup of Nations hosts
Eg y pt crushed sole riva ls South Africa 16-1 earlier on Tuesday in a CAF executive committee vote in Dakar to decide which countr y succeeded Cameroon as 2019 Cup of Nations hosts.
Delays to preparations and concerns about securit y resulted in t he centra l African nation being replaced as hosts, and t hey will stage the 2021 tournament instead.
While the 15-vote winning margin for Eg y pt was unexpected, the success of Sala h was anticipated as he continues to score reg ularly for t he English Premier League leaders.
Sala h netted 44 goals in a ll competitions for Liverpool last season – his first with the Anfield club – and has bagged 13 Premier League goals so fa r t his season.
Ironica lly, Aubameyang has scored one league goal more t han Sala h, topping the charts with Tottenham Hotspur and England star Harr y Kane on 14.
Salah was born in a northern Eg y ptian town Nagrig and used to make eight-hour return trips on buses to train with Cairo-based El Mokawloon (Arab Contractors).
Spotted by scouts from Swiss club Basel, he moved there in 2012 before joining Premier League giants Chelsea t wo years later.
Sala h found scoring difficult early in his professiona l career and was nicknamed “chancentod” (chance k iller) by t he Swiss media.
Later, play ing for Chelsea in a League Cup tie, the Eg y ptian was so of f-target wit h a goal attempt t hat t he ball trick led over t he touchline for a t hrow-in.
Blossomed in Rome
Unhappy with his t wo-goal return, Chelsea lent Sala h to Ita lian outfits Fiorentina and Roma, then sold him to t he latter club.
Salah blossomed in Rome, averaging close to a goal ever y t wo matches, and Liverpool paid a lmost £ 37 million (about $47 million) to sign him t wo years ago.
The Eg y ptian had his share of setbacks last year, too, wit h an injur y in the Champions League final loss to Real Madrid a lso keeping him out of a World Cup defeat by Uruguay.
He returned to score against hosts Russia and Saudi Arabia, but the Pharaohs ex ited t heir first appearance at the globa l showpiece in 28 years without securing even one point.
Salah netted t wice and missed t wo penalties three months later in a 6-0 Cup of Nations rout of Niger and snatched t he late winner in a 3-2 v ictor y over Tunisia in the same compet it ion.
Having defended his Player of the Year tit le, his next goal will be to match t he four straight wins in t he competition by former Manchester Cit y and Ivor y Coast sta r Yaya Toure.
The other male awards went to France-born Morocco coach Her ve Renard, t he Mauritania nationa l team, and Moroccan Achraf Hakimi in t he youth categor y.
South African Chrestina h Kgatlana was voted Women’s Player of the Year and South Africa coach Desiree Ellis and t he Nigeria nationa l team were the other female winners.
The Goal of the Year award a lso went to Kgatlana.