Mohamed Salah's legacy will extend far beyond Liverpool as global icon bows out of Anfield
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This one, though, would have meant that little bit extra.With Liverpool cruising to victory over Galatasaray at Anfield in March, the winger exchanged passes with Florian Wirtz on the edge of the area before taking a touch with his left foot and curling home in trademark fashion into the top corner in front of the Kop.Not only did it cap a 4-0 win for the Reds to seal their place in the Champions League quarter-finals, it made Salah the first African player to net 50 goals in the competition.Given the luminaries that have gone before the Egyptian - stellar goalscoring talents such as George Weah, Samuel Eto'o and Didier Drogba - it underlined why the winger more than merits his place alongside such greats from the continent.Certainly, as well as helping carry the weight of expectation for Liverpool and a significant burden with his home nation Egypt, Salah has for much of the past decade been lauded as a standard bearer for African football as a whole.From an early age when growing up in the Egyptian village of Nagrig in the north of the city, Salah's raw talent meant he was seemingly always destined for the biggest stage, his commitment such that he famously made a nine-hour round trip five days a week to play football in the capital Cairo.The forward, though, has never forgotten his roots nor lost touch with his former home, with his connection such that he has donated millions of pounds to improve the life of the population. Having helped Egypt qualify for a first World Cup in 28 years in 2018, Salah's efforts in the finals in Russia were severely hampered by the shoulder injury sustained when challenged by Sergio Ramos in Liverpool's Champions League final loss to Real Madrid a few weeks earlier.And such disappointment has been a theme throughout his international career.
Despite being on course to be Egypt's record goalscorer, Salah was on the losing side in the 2017 and 2021 African Cup of Nations finals, the latter after country were defeated in a penalty shoot-out against Senegal in the final before the attacker had the chance to take his spot kick.A few months later, Salah missed his penalty in the shoot-out as Egypt lost to Senegal in their World Cup play-off. This season, though, he scored twice as his country booked their place in the finals, although there will be obvious intrigue over where Salah goes after that given his decision to leave Liverpool this summer after nine years.A sign of the pride Africa and Egypt in particular has in Salah was evident during the fallout following the player's controversial comments earlier this season when indicating he had been "thrown under the bus" by Liverpool after being dropped after some poor performances for a struggling team.While Salah's reaction was viewed dimly by many observers in England, in African the finger was pointed at anybody but the player.Given his sustained success over such a long period of time, it's perhaps a surprise that Salah has only been voted African Footballer of the Year twice in 2017 and 2018.
He's scoring goals for his club, he's showing great leadership and he's a great example for kids as well.“So I think it's a story that needs a good ending. And while international honours - both as an individual and with his country - have eluded Salah, there can be no disputing his standing in the history of African football.