Mohamed Salah, the Liverpool star, is an adored figure at Anfield, but he may be even more so in his native Egypt.
Salah assisted Mohamed Elneny, who scored Egypt's first goal, as the Pharaohs rallied from a 2-0 deficit to earn a vital draw against Angola in their World Cup qualifying match on Friday.
Egypt qualified for the play-offs after a 2-2 tie, where they will challenge for a position at next year's showpiece competition in Qatar.
According to the Daily Mail, the match was stopped three times as fans made their way onto the playground in desperate attempts to meet with Salah.
Checkout Mohamed Salah is mobbed by pitch invader during Egypt's match against Angola
Salah and a fan! pic.twitter.com/fZWmpjiz3J
— The Anfield Talk (@TheAnfieldTalk) November 12, 2021
The most inconvenient interruption occurred when one fan ran towards Salah in order to hug when Egypt was seeking for a late winner.
The Premier League's present top goalscorer, who had already been the target of a couple of certain other pitch invaders, was surprisingly understanding of the situation.
He even warmly greeted the fan - which is unlikely to deter future copycat attempts - before security escorted the man away.
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| Image: PA |
It's also important to note that Egypt was the game's visitors, prompting many on social media to believe that the follower involved was definitely Angolan.
Salah, who played in Russia 3 years ago and scored two goals, will be hoping that Egypt can comfortably handle their playoff tie and continue to their second World Cup in a consecutive. That would be quite big accomplishment for a nation with only past three appearances to their name.
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| Image: PA |
If Egypt makes it to Qatar, they should be relieved to know that security will be strict. It has to be seen whether those measures are sufficient to deter Salah superfans from attempting to see their idol.
It's clear that a superstar the magnitude of Salah wouldn't be able to go down the street without being trailed by hordes of followers.
With that being said, it becomes an issue when a player is still subjected to the same degree of attention in the middle of the game.
Mo Salah's superstar status is unlike anything we've seen before.
Featured Image Credit: Image: PA/Twitter