Mohamed Salah's path to football stardom was forged through extraordinary sacrifice, as revealed in an exclusive extract from Melissa Reddy's new biography, Only Mo Salah: An Intimate Portrait of the Egyptian King. The Liverpool forward endured nine-hour round trips five days a week as a teenager just to train with Al Mokawloon Al Arab in Cairo, often sleeping on cold pitches and using his shoes as a pillow.
From Nagrig to Cairo: A Grueling Daily Grind
Salah, who grew up in the village of Nagrig in Gharbia Governorate, began his journey at age 14, taking at least four buses each way to reach the club's youth sector in Nasr City. The route involved transfers from Basyoun to Tanta, then a 100-kilometer slog to Ramses Square, and finally a connection to the club. On good days, he caught a ride close to the gates, sparing him a two-kilometer uphill run to make training on time.
Hamdi Nouh, Salah's first coach at Al Mokawloon, whom Salah calls a "second father," emphasized the forward's willingness to sacrifice. "He was ready to sacrifice everything, he wanted to work hard, and liked to learn," Nouh said. Salah's daily grind was not just physically demanding but also financially tight, as he had only enough cash for the exact journey and was too respectful to ask his father for more.
Chasing a Dream: Salah's Own Words
Despite the hardships, Salah recalls the experience fondly. "I didn't feel tired travelling when I was young," he reflected in 2022. "It's because I was doing something I wanted, chasing a dream I had to reach. I wasn't seeing my situation, I was seeing my goal. These are days I sit and think about, I'll never forget them and I still smile now when I remember everything."
His mother, known as Umm Mohamed, was less enthusiastic. She worried about the dangerous microbuses and the high number of crashes on his route. One major accident sent her into panic, and she called her son over 20 times, but he didn't answer because he was fast asleep. His father, Salah Ghaly, a government administrator who traded in jasmine, funded his son's football path, supporting moves to Ittihad in Basyoun and Othmason in Tanta before the big leap to Al Mokawloon.
Sleeping in Cemeteries and on Pitches
One lesser-known story involves Salah and a teammate who, after a failed plan to stay at a relative's house, ended up sleeping in a cemetery before sneaking into Al Mokawloon's complex. They laid sheets on the floor behind the steel gates, using shoes as pillows, and set alarms for 6am to avoid detection. The next night, they slept on Field 2 under the cold sky, and Salah enjoyed being early for training.
Ghamri Abdel-Hameed el-Saadani, his juniors coach, noted Salah's early promise: "He was small, but his left foot and his shots were powerful. He was fast and could do things with the ball the other boys couldn't."
A Star in the Making
By his 18th birthday, Salah had already packed in a lifetime of sacrifice. Moving into Al Mokawloon's residences was a turning point. "Not everyone could stay there, so psychologically I felt like I became someone, like a star," Salah recalled. "I used to see players finish training and go upstairs, while I would leave to take the journey back to Nagrig. I'd think, 'One day I'll go up there'." He would go higher than any other Egyptian footballer in history.
The biography, published by Orion Publishing and available from 13 August, offers an intimate portrait of Salah's rise, from his humble beginnings to his status as a global icon, with a mural honoring him at a youth centre in Nagrig.
