Salah (Ultimate Football Heroes--the No. 1 football series) by Matt Oldfield

Author:Matt Oldfield [Matt and Tom Oldfield]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781789460070
Publisher: John Blake
Published: 2018-10-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 15

WORLD CUP DREAM – PART I

When Egypt missed out on the 2010 World Cup, Mohamed was still only a promising teenager. He hadn’t even made his international debut yet. Four years on, however, and he was one of the most exciting young players in European club football. Could Mohamed lead his country to glory?

Although Egypt had failed to qualify for the African Cup of Nations for the second year in a row, there were hopeful signs. The Under-23s had performed well at the 2012 Olympics in London and they now formed the core of the national team – Ahmed Hegazi in defence, Elneny in midfield and Mohamed in attack.

‘Let’s do this!’ the trio cheered together. They were best friends on and off the pitch.

In his dreams, Mohamed had always pictured himself playing at the 2018 World Cup. He would be in his mid-twenties by then, with lots of experience for club and country. But why not 2014 as well?

‘There’s no reason why we can’t make it to Brazil!’ Egypt’s manager Bob Bradley told his players. He knew what he was talking about; he had coached the USA national team at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

Egypt started the qualifying campaign in style, winning six games out of six. Mohamed was their top scorer with six goals, including his first-ever hat-trick against Zimbabwe. All three were fantastic finishes but the second was the pick of the bunch.

Mohamed dribbled all the way from the halfway line, nutmegged one defender and then sprinted towards the penalty area. After hurdling a last-ditch tackle, he chipped the ball cheekily over the diving keeper.

Gooooooooooooaaaaaaaaaallllllllllllllllllllll!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mohamed was head and shoulders above his opponents, just like when he used to play on the local pitch in Nagrig. If he didn’t actually score a goal for Egypt, he would usually set it up with a clever cross or pass. He was involved in everything.

‘What would we do without you?’ Ahmed asked but no-one wanted to think about that awful possibility.

Thanks to Mohamed, Egypt finished top of Group G. They were now just two games away from a place at the 2014 World Cup. They would be two very difficult matches, however, against Ghana. The Black Stars were one of the best teams in Africa. They had great players like Michael Essien and Asamoah Gyan, and they had reached the quarter-finals of the 2010 World Cup.

‘If we defend well in Ghana, then we’ll beat them back in Cairo!’ Bradley said to motivate his team.

Unfortunately, Gyan scored Ghana’s first goal in the fourth minute. After that, it quickly became a humiliation for Egypt – without Ahmed at the back, the Egypt backline collapsed. They scored a clumsy own goal and then gave away a silly penalty.

‘No, no, NO!’

Mohamed couldn’t believe what he was seeing. The team had played so well up until now, so why were they suddenly making every mistake under the sun? Mohamed did his best to turn things around. He won a penalty at the end of the first half, but that was little comfort.

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