Is Mohamed Salah The Best African Player
The passion the AFCON countries have for the game it’s second to none, for many players, it’s been a way out of poverty. The African continent has produced many incredible players who went on to be club legends in Europe or other continents. Even in the current timeline, there are tons of absolutely brilliant players. Will the 2X African Footballer Of The Year Mo Salah be able to get the status of the best player beyond them?
Mohamed Salah – The Egyptian Messi
Mohamed Salah – the Egyptian King, a hero in his own country and an icon in the world of football. At 29 years old, he is one of the best players in England who has already won 8 titles in his career while he is hungry for more. He is creative, enthusiastic, and passionate about football which makes him one of the most sensational forwards in European football.
The player was born on 15 June 1992, at Nagrig Basyoun, Egypt. Since his early life Salah considered Ronaldo, Zinedine Zidane and Francesco Totti as his idols, Salah started his journey with the local youth team. As a football enthusiast, he often had to miss school to make the 3-hour journey to training. At the age of 14, he joined the Al Mokawloon youth team for the very first time and after a year, he was shifted to the senior team and made a debut on 3rd May 2010 as a substitute player.
In addition, Salah played for both the Egypt U-20 team and the Egypt U-23 team, representing Egypt in both the 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup and the 2012 Summer Olympics.
Life Journey:
The Egyptian masterclass made his debut on 3 September 2011 for the Egypt national football team, then Salah has scored 47 total goals for them across 82 appearances till now. Besides playing for his country, Salah was also in the spotlight of many football clubs. He started his club career with the Swiss Super League club Basel and helped Basel win the league title for the fifth time in a row. Scoring the equaliser against Chelsea in the 2–1 away win during the group stage, he was caught up in Jose Mourinho’s eye. Making Salah the first Egyptian to sign for the London-based club, Chelsea bought him. After that, on the 2nd of February 2015, Chelsea confirmed that Salah would join the Italian club Fiorentina on an 18-month loan. In his time at Chelsea, the player lost a bit of his charm and he was considered a flop in London. Little did they know that this guy will come back to own the Premier League like no one ever did.
It started to change for Salah when moved to Roma on 3rd August 2016, he suited up for Roma 83 times in two seasons, scoring 34 goals. According to the pundits of football, it was in Rome where Salah understood his actual playing style which made him into the player he is today. Soon enough he was ready to come back to the Premier League for a second time. He joined Liverpool on 22nd June 2017. In a very short time he scored 152 goals in only 237 games, he became one of the greatest players of Liverpool and now the Premier League too. Under the guidance of Jurgen Klopp and the other players he can achieve a lot more in England and maybe retire as one of the biggest legends to play in Anfield. Mo Salah made the record for the most goals scored (32) in a single Premier League season and also came close to winning the Ballon D’or once. Given the current scenario, it’s still possible for Mo Salah to win the Ballon d’Or in the future.
Why is Mo Salah the greatest African player?
Achievements
The player who changed the fate of Liverpool has won quite a lot in his career. He won the 2015–16 Player of the Season award for Basel. Mo Salah has also won the iconic Puskas award along with tons of POTY awards for clubs he has played in his career. He was awarded Player of the Month by Liverpool supporters for his remarkable performances. On 17th 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 the record of scoring 36 times in his debut season for Liverpool, and also became the leading goalscorer of the Premier League. In September 2019, Salah was nominated for the FIFA FIFPro World11.
In terms of individual success, Salah has received many awards.
2012–CAF Most Promising Talent of the Year;
2017– BBC African Footballer of the Year;
2017– PFA Premier League Team of the Year;
2019,2017 –Premier League Golden Boot;
2021,2018,2018– Premier League Player of the Month;
2018– PFA Players’ Player of the Year;
2018– FIFA Puskás Award;
2018– FWA Footballer of the Year;
2020,2019,2018– CAF African’s finest XI;
2021,2018,2018– Premier League Player of the Month;
2021– Laureus Sporting Inspiration Award;
All those are just the individual trophies of this phenomenal player while he won some of the biggest titles in his career, Salah won the 2X SWISS CHAMPION, 1X ENGLISH CHAMPION, 1X FIFA CLUB WORLD CUP WINNER, 1X UEFA SUPERCUP WINNER, 2X ENGLISH LEAGUE CUP WINNER, 1X CHAMPIONS LEAGUE WINNER.
People might think how a player who performed well in a different continent be the best player for the African continent. Mo Salah is the captain of the Egyptian National team in 2021 and he is always there for his country, Salah also led his country to the AFCON finals. Egypt lost the match on penalties after playing a stunning game. However, without a doubt, football is the biggest sport in Africa.
People of Egypt knows the amount of passion Salah has for his country and a majority of them will also rate him as the best Egyptian footballer ever.
Other Past African Legends:
Former Egyptian President George Weah(the only African who won the Ballon d’Or) raised the gong in the 1990s and is considered one of the best players of all time. There’s Samuel Eto’o, who won almost everything with Barcelona and he is one of the deadliest strikers ever and enjoyed a career full of silverware. And what more can we say about Didier Drogba? One of the biggest big-game players of the modern age, the Ivorian had a talent for scoring a lot of goals. Jay-Jay Okocha, the former PSG, Bolton and Nigeria star, was one of the most technically talented footballers of his generation, proving with a stint in the Premier League that he could hack it in the rough and tumble of English football.
Cameroonian forward Roger Milla pushed Africa for the 1st time in the quarter-final of a world cup. Nwako Kanu, who brags of an Olympic medal, premier league, Afcon trophies, and there is Abedi Pele, who won the Best African player more than 3 times. Even Salah’s co-player, Sadio Mane, could make a claim based on talent, trophies and big-game. Mohamed Salah is a great footballer apart from the mentioned achievements he bagged more than 20 goals in five consecutive seasons this has helped him become the highest-scoring African in premier league history.
Also, it is worth mentioning Salah’s contribution. The player is generous and he has helped to build schools in Egypt and he also donates millions of euros to local charities. He is a great role model for the people of Egypt and all the fans around the world. The player is a firm believer of Islam and is open to the idea of living in harmony as he is often seen celebrating Christmas with his family while he is criticized for doing so.
No other current African player can get close to Mohammed Salah in any of the criteria. As of now, Mo Salah is the best African player with little to no competition from other players. Since Salah is still young we might see him end up as the greatest African player ever if he continues his great form.
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