Mohamed Salah: The Uncrowned Pharaoah

Mohamed Salah is arguably the best player in world football right now. His exploits with Liverpool have been legendary; this season, he has shown no signs of slowing down. He has won everything in club football and is only chasing the shadows of greats such as Cristiano Ronaldo and Thierry Henry in the Premier League. However, a huge stain engulfs him with the national team. The lack of an African Cup of Nations winners medal means that Salah is not regarded as even the greatest Egyptian player of all time. That honour belongs to the otherworldly figure of Mohamed Aboutrika.

Egypt is a country steeped in football heritage, boasting the most AFCON titles on the continent (7) as well as Africa’s most successful club, Al-Ahly, who have won the CAF Champions League a record 11 times. It is due to this football heritage that Aboutrika is regarded as their greatest-ever player. Nicknamed the magician, the number 22 had won the CAF Champions League five times with Al-Ahly and had won AFCON twice in 2006 and 2008, with him scoring the only goal in 2008 against fellow African giant, Samuel Eto’o's Cameroon.

He is regarded as the greatest player never to play in Europe or South America. All his on-field, as well as his off-field exploits, have catapulted him to the stars in terms of reverence in his homeland. A status that Salah could only hope to achieve with one act: winning. Egypt has grown accustomed to being the best the continent has to offer, with their golden generation winning three ACON titles in a row between 2006 and 2010.

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