Mohamed Salah during the match between Russia and Egypt at the 2018 World Cup. Picture by Ricardo Moreira Fotoarena/SIPA USA/PA Images. All rights reserved. It’s no shock that Egypt is out of the World Cup, yet there is disappointment. The real trouble with Egypt is that it’s a place where hope never lives, but never truly dies. We dared to hope yet again despite everything telling us not to. We were inspired by the unlikely success of someone we felt was one of us, fought the same battles we had to in order to reach the top, ever diligent and hardworking. The small framed man who defied giants to become one of them, Mohamed Salah was a source of hope for many Egyptians in many different ways.
We wanted to think of him as a representative of what Egypt can become, but we knew deep down that he only represented himself. We admired his escape from a horrible fate of mediocrity that he would be sentenced to have had he remained in Egypt. If only now that he was strong enough, if only now he would come back and fight on our behalf… and he did, but one man’s success isn’t enough to save a nation, did I say nation? I meant team.
Football is political, and to ignore the politics of football is a political statement.
