On And Off The Field: A Look At Mo Salah’s 2022 Highlights
The FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, taking place from Nov. 20 to 18 Dec, will witness Egypt’s Mohamed Salah take on a new role other than scoring goals. He won’t be playing during the tournament due to Egypt’s loss to a Sadio Mane-led Senegal side in a penalty shootout during the final qualifying game. Instead, Salah is set to appear as an analyst for BEIN Sports during the World Cup Qatar 2022. Due to his exclusive focus on the field, this is the first time we will see Salah take on such a role.
This means he won’t take a holiday during this period or even train at Liverpool‘s AXA training ground as many would expect. Reports from Liverpool’s Transfer Room and reporter Ismael Mahmoud, claim that Salah will be joined by Manchester City and Algeria’s Riyad Mahrez who will join the BEIN Sports commentary team for the 2022 Qatar World Cup. Algeria also failed to qualify for the finals, meaning that Mahrez will also not be competing alongside many of his Manchester City teammates this winter.
Salah has had a “slow season,” as some may suggest, but he unquestionably saved Liverpool two days ago during their game against Manchester City (currently 2nd in the Premier League). He struck an incredible goal in the 76th minute to help Liverpool get back on track after a string of losses.
Apart from his breathtaking goals, the Egyptian king claimed fifth place in the 2022 Ballon d’Or. For those who are not familiar with the significance of such an event, the Ballon d’Or is a prestigious annual award for the best player of the previous year. Being in fifth place, Salah became the highest-ranked Liverpool player in the voting. That’s not it as Salah bagged the Champions League’s fastest-ever hat-trick, scoring three goals in six minutes in Liverpool’s Group A match against Rangers.
We also have to look at the awards Salah received in the first half of 2022 as he won the Premier League Golden Boot award for the 2021-22 campaign alongside Tottenham Hotspur’s Son Heung-min. He finished that season tied with Son with 23 goals from 35 games, giving him the award for the third time in his career. In addition, he received the Player of the Year award from the Football Writers’ Association in honor of his outstanding accomplishments. Salah has won the trophy twice; his first victory came in 2018.
Finally, Salah was also voted as the Player of the Year in PFA Players. PFA members vote for the winners of each award, choosing the players they feel have put in the best performances all year. He joined legends such as Alan Shearer, Thierry Henry, Gareth Bale, Cristiano Ronaldo, Lucy Bronze, Kevin De Bruyne, and Fran Kirby to become one of the only nine players in PFA Award History to have won two Players’ Player of the Year trophies according to The Guardian.
Salah is a man of many talents; on and off the field, making it no surprise that he will be an analyst for the 2022 Qatar World Cup.
