Mohamed Salah Hamed Mahrous Ghaly, also known as Mo Salah, born 15 June 1992, is an Egyptian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Premier League side Liverpool and captains the Egypt national team.
He is recognized for his finishing, dribbling, and speed.
He is regarded as one of the best players in the world and one of the greatest African players of all time.
Early life and Education
Mohamed Salah was born on June 15, 1992, in Nagrig, Basyoun, Egypt, to middle-class parents.
Mohamed’s academic performance worried his parents. Mohamed tried to find a balance between his academics and football, but his grades never improved.
Football was his primary objective throughout his childhood and teenage years.
When he wasn’t playing, he might be seen watching football on TV.
His parents desired a conventional career for him, but Salah was unaffected by his parent’s wishes and remained entirely focused on football.
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Career
Club Career (Al Mokawloon, Basel, Fiorentina, AS Roma, Chelsea & Liverpool)
In 2006, he joined Al Mokawloon’s youth team at the age of 14 after being spotted by a scout who had come to watch another child play but was distracted by Salah.
Salah started playing football for fun at first, but when he joined a local youth team in Cairo called ‘El Mokawloon,’ he saw it as a serious career opportunity.
The local team was far from his hometown, and he had to change five buses to get to the academy, which affected his academics even more, but his love of the game kept him focused.
As the ‘Port Said Stadium Tragedy’ threatened the ‘Egyptian Premier League,’ Swiss club ‘Basel’ offered him a contract.
Basel signed him on a four-year contract in April 2012.
In the same year, he made his ‘UEFA Championship League’ and ‘Europa League’ debuts, scoring on numerous important occasions to assist his team reach the semi-finals, which they finally lost.
Salah was crucial in Basel’s 2012-13 ‘Swiss Super League Championship’ success, as well as their runner-up position in the Swiss Cup.
The next season, Salah joined the Chelsea football team in London. He later played for Fiorentina and then AS Roma in Italy.
Salah signed for Liverpool in 2017 for a then-club record fee of £36.9 million.
In his first season, he set the record for most Premier League goals scored (32) in a 38-game season and helped Liverpool reach the 2018 UEFA Champions League Final.
Salah went on to play a key role in the club’s Champions League and Premier League titles the next two seasons, as well as the FA Cup and the League Cup.
Salah has won two PFA Players’ Player of the Year awards, three Premier League Golden Boots, the Premier League Player of the Season, the Premier League Playmaker of the Season, and finished third for Best FIFA Men’s Player in 2018 and 2021.
He won the 2018 FIFA Puskás Award for his winning goal in the first Merseyside derby of the 2017-18 season.
Salah surpassed Robbie Fowler as Liverpool’s top goalscorer in 2023.
International Career (Egypt)
Salah represented Egypt at the junior level before making his senior debut in 2011.
He was voted CAF’s Most Potential African Talent of the Year after his efforts at the 2012 Summer Olympics.
Since then, he has finished second in the 2017 and 2021 Africa Cup of Nations, as well as being the top scorer throughout CAF qualification as Egypt qualified for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
Salah has been named the CAF African Footballer of the Year (2017 and 2018), the BBC African Footballer of the Year (2017 and 2018).
He has been named to the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations Team of the Tournament, the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations Team of the Tournament, and the CAF Team of the Year on multiple occasions.
Personal Life
Salah married his wife, Maggi, in 2013. Makka, their daughter born in 2014, is named after the Islamic holy city of Mecca.
Kayan, his second daughter, was born in 2020. He is a Muslim who celebrates accomplishments by performing the sujud.
Mo Salah enjoys playing football on his PlayStation, and has stated jokingly that “Salah in the video game is stronger than the actual one”.
Salah has also stated that his favorite food is kushari.
