Sport Insight: Mohamed Salah – The Egyptian King
“Whenever I walk in here, I can’t help but recall how he used to move and the way he controlled the ball. It was something else.”
One of Mohamed Salah’s first coaches opens the brand-new dark green gates of the youth center in Nagrig, a village roughly three hours north of Cairo. This is where the journey began for one of the world’s most prolific forwards, a player who propelled Liverpool to the Premier League title in May.
It was on the streets of Nagrig that a seven-year-old Salah would play football with his friends, pretending to be Brazil striker Ronaldo, France’s legendary playmaker Zinedine Zidane, or Italian maestro Francesco Totti. “Mohamed was small compared to his teammates, but he was doing things even the older boys couldn’t manage,” recalls Ghamry Abd El-Hamid El-Saadany, pointing to the artificial pitch now named in Salah’s honor. “His shots were incredibly powerful, and it was obvious that he had determination and drive.”
Salah, now 33, is about to begin his ninth season at Liverpool, where he has scored a remarkable 245 goals in 402 league and cup appearances since joining in 2017. Egypt’s first global football superstar has won every domestic honor and the Champions League with the Reds, but he has yet to taste success with his country. With the Africa Cup of Nations in December and the 2026 World Cup on the horizon, BBC Sport visited Egypt to discover what Salah means to the football-mad nation of 115 million people, and how a small boy from humble beginnings became a national icon.
“I still feel my father’s joy when I watch Salah,” says Lamisse El-Sadek at the Dentists Cafe in east Cairo. “After Salah joined Liverpool, we used to watch every match on television together.” The cafe, named after the former owner’s original profession, is now a gathering spot for Liverpool fans to watch matches on the big screen. Lamisse wears a Liverpool shirt with her father’s name on the back. “He sadly passed away two years ago,” she adds. “Every Liverpool game was some of the happiest two hours in our household every week. Even if I had to miss some of the game due to school or work, my father used to text me minute-by-minute updates. Salah didn’t come from a class of privilege. He really worked hard and sacrificed a lot to reach where he is now. A lot of us see ourselves in him.”
The small farming village of Nagrig in the Egyptian Nile Delta is nestled in swathes of green fields growing jasmine and watermelons. Water buffalo, cows, and donkeys share dirt roads with cars, motorbikes, and horse-drawn carts. It is here that one of the world’s best forwards, affectionately known as the ‘Egyptian King,’ spent his early years.
“Salah’s family is the foundation and secret behind his success,” adds El-Saadany, who calls himself Salah’s first coach after nurturing him when he was eight. “They still live here with humility, values, and respect. That’s one reason people love them so much.” The youth center has recently received an impressive upgrade in tribute to the village’s most famous son, and the green playing surface would not look out of place at a professional training ground. “They [Salah’s family] made many sacrifices when he was young,” says El-Saadany, standing next to a huge photograph that hangs behind one of the goals.
