Jurgen Klopp reckons the crucial goal of Mo Salah’s season, that set him on his ridiculous goalscoring run, was not for Liverpool, but for Egypt!
The 25-year-old notched a last minute penalty against Congo in October, confirming his country’s place in the World Cup for the first time since 1990.
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It took tremendous bottle and confirmed Salah as a genuine national hero in his homeland.
In the recent election, thousands of voters crossed out the names of the candidates and wrote ‘Mo Salah’ instead!
“It’s responsibility, of course. Nobody told him ‘don’t score 30 goals otherwise we can’t be successful’ or ‘if you don’t score, we cannot win’. But the penalty he scored, by the way, I nearly had a heart attack,” Klopp told the Echo.
“We all have these game-changing moments in our life and maybe that was one of them. If you deliver in a situation like this, what can happen to you then?
“Did you see it? The best thing was how they celebrated the penalty. It was something I never saw in my life. Germany in 1990 didn’t celebrate the World Cup like this. They only got the penalty and then they thought… somebody has to shoot. Yes, that was real pressure.”
In total, Salah has notched 37 goals in all competitions, which without exaggeration, is an absurd number for a right-winger who’s scored only one set-piece.
As a result, he’s likely to win the Premier League Player of the Year Award, which is very much deserved.
On Saturday, he bagged a late winner against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park, which should confirm our top four spot considering Chelsea lost to Spurs.