AS I write these lines, it may not be an exaggeration to say that Arab youth’s first icon today is the soccer star Mohamed Salah.
This player has turned into a “phenomenon” — striking and important. In addition to being an exceptional player, he is now bracketed with the world’s best players — Messi, Ronaldo and Neymar.
His market value has grown exponentially on the “players’ stock exchange” as the big clubs are gearing up and preparing to strike a lifetime deal with the star. But the evaluation of the performance of Mohamed Salah as a player never stops. The most important success in the player’s ability alone is to break the psychological factors in the Arab world on one hand and in Britain on the other.
Young people in the Arab world had always been looking up to a role model outside as they did not have a successful one at home to be proud of.
The young Arab man was captivated by success stories of film heroes, sports men and music icons of the Western world as his models, but today they have a moral icon, a successful and very distinctive in his field. Salah has earned accolades even in the West, and particularly in Britain, where the phenomenon of rioters and hooligans entering stadiums and directing racist and hateful chants against Muslims is a common sight.
Despite the charged atmosphere, he has managed to achieve legendary success by “taming” the hooligans and turning them into neutral and even supportive elements, who now shout his name and his religion, while the children imitate him with joy when he prostrates after every goal.
Mohamed Salah was successful, distinguished, dedicated and serious in recreating the image of the young Arab Muslim in the simplest frame — with a smile of affection and welcome. He did not show hatred, did not show aggressive or confrontational attitude, did not incite hatred in the heart, and did not refuse to accept one of the others. This is the model that “produces” and leads to results as the scene shows us. The other method is full of shouts, threats, warning, intimidation and hatred, which have proved to be flawed and futile over the years.
Mohamed Salah offers us a “living” model of what is possible, what is required, what is acceptable, what is appropriate and what is successful. The secret in the magical mix of Mohammed Salah is the mastery of the job entrusted to the person and steeped in good behavior. It is a rare mixture of all borders, cultures and fences of civilizations. Perhaps the most important scene in the game of Mohamed Salah and his recent club Liverpool against Roma, his former club, which the former won by a record five goals, was not only the two goals scored by Salah but also the passes he made for his colleagues to score goals.
But it was Mohammed Salah’s scene in the player’s corridor before they landed on the pitch, kissing and greeting all the members of the Roma team in a civilized and respectful manner. Mohammed Salah is a story worth telling and young people are right to follow him.
