One can trace Mohamed Salah’s story through several buses.
First there were the multiple buses he would board for the four-hour daily commute from his local town of Naghrig to play football in Cairo as a kid, the sort of journey that makes his rise to a global icon all the more inspiring.
Then he claimed he was ‘thrown under the bus’ by Liverpool a fortnight ago which sparked a manager-versus-player tug of war that threatened to end in tears. And here, on his first start for a month, he was met with an old-fashioned park-the-bus tactic from Zimbabwe.
For much of this game here in Agadir, Salah huffed and puffed but could not find a way through the yellow wall of Zimbabwean defenders – until he scored a 91st-minute winner to give his nation a vital win on their Africa Cup of Nations opener.
Before that, it was the Pharaohs’ other global superstar who stole the limelight with an equaliser: Manchester City’s Omar Marmoush.
After 28 goals and 17 assists for his clubs last year, Marmoush has had a rather disappointing second season in England and has found the net just once. But a thunderous finish after 64 minutes here showed Pep Guardiola what he can do.
Before that, he and his colleagues had been wasteful after Prince Dube, who plays for Young Africans in Tanzania, converted Zimbabwe’s first sight of goal to leave the tournament’s second favourites – behind hosts Morocco – with lots of work to do.
Salah has ‘moved on’ from his row with Arne Slot, according to the Liverpool boss, and his attention has turned firmly to what could be his best chance of getting his hands the object his heart most desires, the AFCON trophy.
Egypt, after all, are the most successful nation in this tournament’s history with seven titles including three on the spin at the start of this century. But they have never won it with their greatest ever export, Salah.
His performance showed Slot why he can still be a game-changer. Several beautiful crosses were on the money for Egypt team-mates but poor finishing let them down, and he shanked a few shots of his own late on.
But with his very last kick, skipper Salah showed Slot what he is missing with a poachers’ finish. It sent a nation into delirium and pictures of his beaming smile – we have not seen that much recently – would have gone around the world in seconds.
