Speaking with the magazine in an interview, the 26-year-old footballer spoke about the role his father played in making him a better footballer.
Salah played at El Mokawloon, Basel, Chelsea, Fiorentina, and Roma, but his career took off after signing for Liverpool.
“I would complain that I didn’t want to travel [the four hours] to training,” said Salah, remembering the role his father played.
“But he stood by me and told me that all great players go through this. The price for him was very high, and I’ll never forget the role he played in my career.”
The attacker has already scored 42 goals in 53 appearances for Liverpool, and speaking about his performance so far, he said:
“It makes me feel great, and makes me want to work harder and to continue performing,” he said. “Because after that if your standards drop, people will not accept it. It’s a great feeling, but I don’t see it as more pressure.”
For young players aspiring to become a footballer, the Liverpool star advised them saying:
“For me, nothing was going to come easily… nothing good ever does. I went through every possible stage a footballer could go through. Moving from an Arab country to Europe, you feel the difference in everything from the standard of living to food, to communication.
“You don’t know what to do. After that you become organised because you want to reach your goals. If you don’t try then you will always stay at home. I’m not belittling that at all, if that’s what you want, then that’s okay too.”
On Egypt’s dramatic World Cup qualifier match against Congo, he said, “When the equaliser went in, I could hardly comprehend what I saw.
“I was thinking of the 80,000 fans in the stadium. It was hard to accept that we would not qualify in that match. I was totally crushed, I fell to the floor, I just couldn’t help myself. But as soon as I hit the ground, I thought to myself that if the other players saw me like that then it was not going to help.
“But even as I was doing it, I was still burning inside. It was tough. I was shouting for them to lift their heads, but it was so hard to keep control of my own emotions. I felt I was losing control of everything. It was probably the most difficult moment of my life.
“I wasn’t thinking. Those seconds before the penalty, I was not thinking.”
For more Salah, visit GQ.
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