On Saturday May 26th, the Champions League Final saw Liverpool take on Real Madrid in what was a tantalising game and for the first part of the game, everyone was very eager to see one contest – Mo Salah v Cristiano Ronaldo. In Salah’s first season with Liverpool, he set the world alight and tongues wagging and with that came a chant that would become a culture when Liverpool played at Anfield – “Mo Salah, Mo Salah, running down the wing, Salah, Salah, Salah, the Egyptian King”
During the first half of the final, disaster struck. The nation of Egypt were thrown into despair as Mo Salah had entangled himself with Sergio Ramos and as consequence, Salah was injured and was forced to come off the field. As he was leaving, you could just about see the impact of this injury and what it meant as Salah was reduced to tears, the tears were streaming down his face and with that, his chances of appearing in the World Cup was hanging by a thread.
When Salah tangled with Real Madrid’s Sergio Ramos during the Champions League final in May and had to go off with an injured shoulder, Liverpool’s prospects of winning that competition all but ended.
In Egypt – a nation of 80 million – football fans held their breath, knowing only too well the forward’s importance to their team.
Instantly, the nation of Egypt was waiting for what seemed like an entirety for news on whether Salah would be fit or not. Egypt’s first game came round and as expected, Salah was on the bench for the game. During the game, the media panned over to Mo Salah and the look on his face was one of disappointment. His absence was felt as Egypt lost their first game but in their 2nd game, Salah looked anything short of world class. During the whole game, he was hesitant to enter challenges, he looked anxious about engaging in any duels for the fear of injuring his shoulder again.
After the game against Russia, during which he scored, he showed exactly why he have set the World Cup alight had he of been fully fit.
Should Salah have started the games? History may suggest that Egypt should have gambled on his fitness but looking back on it, the damage has already been done. Salah and Egypt have left Russia without a single point and now Salah now heads back to Liverpool to build on an already impressive first campaign with Liverpool.
“Mo Salah, Mo Salah, running down the wing, Salah, Salah, Salah, the Egyptian King”