In the Nile Delta village of Nagrig, residents love local son Mohamed Salah from a distance, with ructions between the Egyptian super striker and long-time English club Liverpool doing little to dim his lustre at home.
“Thanks to him I can dream,” 16-year-old Mohamed Ahmed told AFP as he stepped onto a pitch at the Nagrig sports complex where Salah first honed his talents before making his improbable journey to some of football’s most dizzying heights.
“I’m so happy to play here,” Ahmed said, referring to the complex renamed in Salah’s honour, where young people from the village and beyond come to bask in the footballer’s legend, greeted by a mural of the star as they enter.
