Mohamed Salah just netted for Liverpool in the UEFA Champions League against Bologna on Wednesday night to make footballing history. His left-foot curler beauty of a goal took his UEFA Champions League Goal Tally to 45 Goals in the top flight of European Football. By scoring in Liverpool’s 2-0 win, the Egyptian King became the African with the highest number of goals in the UEFA Champions League.
Mohamed Salah has been one of the greatest players in the world for the past 7-8 seasons and has cemented his place as one of the Greatest Premier League Players ever. But how does he fare in the list of the Greatest African Footballers? Let’s take a look.
Let’s take 5 African Footballers including Mohamed Salah who would definitely be the top 5 Greatest African Players to play football and then try and understand where Salah fits in this list.
Without question, two players who make this list are Samuel Eto’o from Cameroon and George Weah from Liberia. While either of the two can easily be called the Greatest African player to exist, there is one quality that distinguishes the two.
Samuel Eto’o is the most decorated African Footballer of all time, while George Weah is the first and only African footballer to ever win the prestigious Ballon d’Or. And only because of the fact that Samuel Eto’o has done it for longer, and been more consistent throughout his career, he deserves the first place over the Liberian Great. Not to forget, Samuel Eto’o is the only player in Football history to win the European Treble in back-to-back seasons: 2008/09 with Barcelona and 2009/10 with Inter Milan.
1. Samuel Eto’o (Cameroon)
2. George Weah (Liberia)
Now, it’s a battle between three players who have played their best football in the Premier League. One of them always features in the conversation of the Greatest Strikers in the history of the Premier League, while the second always features in the conversation of the Greatest Wingers in the history of the Premier League and the third always features in the conversation of the Greatest Midfielders in the history of the Premier League. The three players are Didier Drogba, Mohamed Salah and Yaya Toure.
While all three have had a massive impact on their respective teams, others had other players who were often the star players of their teams, except one. Didier Drogba’s Chelsea revolved around a certain Frank Lampard and later Eden Hazard. And in Manchester City, Yaya Toure always had David Silva and then Sergio Aguero as the main attraction.
But in Mohamed Salah’s case, he was and still is the main man on his side, not only at club level, but even for Egypt. For Liverpool, Mo Salah is HIM. And that is why he ranks above both, Didier Drogba, and Yaya Toure.
3. Mohamed Salah
4. Didier Drogba
5. Yaya Toure
That rounds up the top 5 African Footballers of All Time. What is your opinion about this list of the greatest ever African Footballers? Let us know in the comments below.
