The reasons why Liverpool star Mohamed Salah is so popular in his native Egypt

Liverpool supporters have got used to the sight of Mohamed Salah scoring goals for the Reds, but what he is doing back home in Egypt is far more important.

The forward, who was never allowed to show his true quality during a spell at Chelsea, has taken the Premier League by storm this season, returning to the division to score 14 times going into this weekend.

He’s also scored 20 goals in all competitions for his new side, but back home he is famous for more than just that.

In an exclusive piece by the Daily Mail from Salah’s home town of Nagrig, just over 100km north of Cairo, the extent to which the 25-year-old gives back to his community was revealed.

Salah has paid for an all-weather football pitch at his former school and equipment for the community gym. He will regularly visit to present children with football awards, and even contributes towards couples from the area getting married.

In an interview with Liverpool’s official website earlier this week, Salah revealed that he’d travel for as much as nine hours, potentially using 10 different buses, to get to and from training when he was a youngster .

 

In October, the entire country came to a standstill when Salah fired in the injury-time penalty against Congo to send Egypt to their first World Cup since 1990 .

While the country celebrated him in the days that followed, it was revealed that Salah’s family had been robbed when he was playing in the match. But instead of pressing charges, the forward instead gave the thief money and tried to help him find work.

His popularity is such that he regularly wins online votes thanks to the number of Egyptians taking part.

At Liverpool this season he’s already won three of four Player of the Month awards, with the only other one given to Dejan Lovren as a gesture of goodwill after threats to his family.

He’s also been the Champions League player of the week twice, the Premier League player of the month for November and BBC African Player of the Year.

 After his first player of the month gong, Roma tweeted Liverpool to tell them to get used to him winning awards.

Having not played for either of Egypt’s big two – Al-Ahly or Zamalek, two clubs who dislike either other and each other’s players with a passion – Salah remains a uniting force for all of Egypt.

And clearly one the the people love.

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