Why Mo Salah is the best African player of all time?
Who is Mo Salah?
Salah is an Egyptian professional football player (born 15 June 1992) who captains the Egypt national team and plays right flank or forward for Liverpool in the Premier League. He is renowned for his speed, dribbling, and clinical finishing. He is regarded as one of the best players of his generation and one of the greatest African players of all time.
Salah began his senior career with Al Mokawloon Al Arab in 2010. He left the team in 2012 to join Basel, where he was a two-time Swiss Super League champion. Salah signed a permanent contract with Roma for €15 million after first joining Chelsea in 2014 for a reported sum of £11 million. However, due to his limited playing time, Salah was loaned to Fiorentina and Roma. Salah had a significant role in Roma's failed championship campaign in the 2016–17 campaign, tallying double digits in both goals and assists. Salah moved to Liverpool in 2017 for a then-club record £36.9 million. In his debut season, he helped Liverpool win the 2018 UEFA Champions League final and broke the record for most Premier League goals scored (32) in a 38-game season.
After Philippe Coutinho left, Salah joined forces with Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mané to form a formidable attacking trio. Salah then played a crucial role in the team's victories in the Champions League and Premier League the next two seasons, and he has since won the FA Cup, EFL Cup, and FA Community Shield. In addition to winning three Premier League Golden Boots, two PFA Players' Player of the Year awards, the Premier League Player of the Season, the Premier League Playmaker of the Season, and third place in the Best FIFA Men's Player competition in 2018 and 2021, Salah has also finished fifth in the FIFA Ballon d'Or in 2019 and 2022. For his game-winning goal in the first Merseyside derby of the 2017–18 season, he was awarded the 2018 FIFA Puskás Award. Salah became the fifth player in Liverpool's history to reach 200 goals in the Premier League in 2023 and rose to the top of the scoring chart.
Before making his senior debut in 2011, Salah competed for Egypt at the youth level in international competitions. His efforts at the Summer Olympics in 2012 earned him the title of Most Promising African Talent of the Year from CAF. Since then, he has placed second in the Africa Cup of Nations in 2017 and 2021, and he led Egypt to qualification for the 2018 FIFA World Cup by scoring the most throughout CAF qualification. In addition to being selected many times for the CAF Team of the Year, the 2017 and 2018 CAF African Footballer of the Year, and the 2021 CAF Cup of Nations Team of the Tournament, Salah was also named the BBC African Footballer of the Year in 2017 and 2018.
Personal life
Salah wed Maggi, his spouse, in 2013. Makka, their 2014-born daughter, was named after Mecca, the holiest city in Islam. In 2020, Kayan, his second daughter, was born. Salah is a Muslim who does the sujud to commemorate accomplishments. "It's something like praying or thanking God for what I have received, but yeah, it's just praying and praying for a win," Salah said to CNN after celebrating his goal. Since I was a young child, I have always done that everywhere."
In a lighthearted admission, Salah says that "Salah in the video game is stronger than the real one" and likes to play football on his PlayStation.
Records
Europe
Fastest hat-trick in a UEFA Champions League match: 6 minutes and 12 seconds against Rangers, 12 October 2022
Most Champions League goals for an English club: 41 goals for Liverpool
Quickest UEFA Champions League hat-trick by a substitute: 6 minutes and 12 seconds against Rangers, 12 October 2022
Most goals scored in UEFA club competitions by an African player: 56 goals
Fewest touches ever to score hat-trick in a UEFA Champions League match: 9 touches
All-time African top goalscorer in the UEFA Champions League history: 44 goals
Most goals in UEFA club competitions for an English club: 44 goals
England
Most goals by an African player in a Premier League season: 32 goals in 2017–18
Most Premier League Player of the Month awards in a single season: 3 (November 2017, February 2018 and March 2018)
Most left-footed goals scored in a season: 25 goals in 2017–18
Most teams scored against in a Premier League season: 17 teams (shared with Ian Wright and Robin van Persie)
First and only player to score on the opening day of six consecutive Premier League seasons: (2017–18 to 2022–23)
Highest-scoring African player in Premier League history: 153 goals
Most Premier League goals scored on the opening weekend: 8 goals (shared with Alan Shearer and Frank Lampard and Wayne Rooney)
Most left-footed goals scored in Premier League history: 122 goals[
Most assists by an African player in the Premier League history: 67 assists
Liverpool
Most goals in a debut season: 44 goals in 2017–18
Most European goals in a season: 11 goals in 2017–18 (shared with Roberto Firmino)
Most games scored in during a single campaign: 34 games in 2017–18
Most top-flight goals in a season by a Liverpool player: 32 goals in Premier League 2017–18 (shared with Ian Rush)
Most Liverpool Player of the Month awards in a season: 7 months in 2017–18
Fastest player to score 50 goals for Liverpool: 65 games in 2018–19
Fastest Liverpool player to score 50 Premier League goals: 69 games in 2018–19
Most goals in the first 100 appearances overall in Liverpool history: 69 goals
Most goals in first 100 Premier League appearances in Liverpool history: 70 goals
All-time Liverpool top goalscorer in the UEFA Champions League: 42 goals
First and only Liverpool player to score 20+ goals in four different Premier League seasons: 2017–18, 2018–19, 2020–21, 2021–22
Fastest player to score 100 top-flight goals in Liverpool history: 151 games
Most consecutive games a player has scored for Liverpool: 10 games in 2021–22
All-time Liverpool top goalscorer in European competitions history: 45 goals
All-time Liverpool top goalscorer in the Premier League: 151 goals
Liverpool highest-ever away goalscorer in the Premier League: 61 goals
Most consecutive games a player has scored for Liverpool at Anfield: 9 games in 2022–23
Egypt
Egypt's all-time highest scorer in FIFA World Cup history: 2 goals in 2018 (shared with Abdulrahman Fawzi, 2 goals in 1934)
Egypt's all-time highest scorer in CAF Africa Cup of Nations qualification: 18 goals
Highest-scoring player in Egypt's football history with clubs and national team: 335 goals
Egypt's all-time highest scorer in FIFA World Cup qualification: 15 goals
First and only Egyptian player to score in four consecutive Africa Cup of Nations editions: 2017, 2019, 2021, 2023.
Italy
Highest-scoring Egyptian in Serie A history: 35 goals in 81 games