The 'Little Dancer' that Could Quiz

Answer: Nagrig

Nagrig is a small village near the city of Basyoun, where Salah was born. As a child, he played for his local team, Ittihad Basyoun, then Othmason Tanta, and was signed for Al-Mokawloon's youth team after being spotted by a scout who had come to watch another child. Al-Mokawloon were based in Nasr City, one of the districts of Cairo, and the journey took Salah at least four hours; the club gave him a document to excuse him from school, as he frequently had to miss classes. When he turned 15, he was promoted to the first team and put on a special diet to build muscle.

Salah funded the construction of a primary school, middle school and small stadium in Nagrig, and has also started a fund that gives monthly donations to widows and poor families. On a footballing level, one resident noted that Salah's fame had changed local attitudes to football, and that fathers had become more willing to let their sons play sports rather than solely focusing on education.

Answer: FC Basel

The Egyptian Premier League was suspended after a riot at the Port Said Stadium on 1st February 2012, at a match between home side Al Masry and Al Ahly. As with the Hillsborough Disaster in April 1989, police refused to open gates, which led to crushing and the deaths of 74 people, all but two of them Al Ahly fans.

Basel had been keeping an eye on Salah and organised a friendly with the Egyptian U23 side. Salah came on in the second half and scored two goals, and Basel subsequently signed him as a replacement for Xherdan Shaqiri, who had gone to Bayern Munich. Salah made his official debut as a sub in a Champions League game against Norwegian side Molde, and his official Swiss Super League debut against Thun. He scored nine league goals during his time there.

Answer: True

Yes, both Salah and de Bruyne played for Chelsea! However, they did not play in the same team. De Bruyne left Chelsea to go to Wolfsburg in 2014, after being loaned out to Werder Bremen the previous season, and only played three games. Salah came to Chelsea in 2014. He only appeared nine times for Chelsea and scored two goals, the first being against Arsenal. According to then manager Jose Mourinho, both players wanted to leave and 'didn't want to wait'.

De Bruyne later went on to win multiple trophies with Manchester City. (My stepdad is a Chelsea fan and has never gotten over the fact that Chelsea let both players go. Imagine what had happened if they'd stayed...)

Answer: Roma

Although Salah spent periods on loan at both Roma and Fiorentina during his time at Chelsea, it was Roma who signed him. While on loan to Fiorentina, he wore the number 74 shirt in honour of the victims of the Port Said Stadium riot. His loan period was supposed to be 18 months, but he joined Roma instead for the 2015-2016 season and was signed permanently at the beginning of the following season. He scored his first goal of the season against Udinese and his first hat trick against Bologna, but missed part of the season due to an ankle injury.

Salah was also brought on as a substitute for Roma captain and legend Francesco Totti in his final game for the club, against Genoa. Roma subsequently finished second.

Answer: Jürgen Klopp

Jürgen Klopp had replaced Brendan Rodgers in October 2015, having previously managed Mainz 05 and Borussia Dortmund. He would end up managing the club for nine seasons, making him one of the longer-lasting managers of the 21st century Premier League era, and being the first manager to win a Premier League title with Liverpool, as well as winning the Champions' League in 2019. Klopp was two seasons in when Salah came to Liverpool.

He was signed for £43 million which, at the time was a club record.

He was given the Number 11 shirt while Roberto Firmino, who had previously worn the shirt, changed his number to 9.

Answer: Watford

Salah hit the ground running in the 2017-2018 season, scoring the third goal for Liverpool in a 3-3 draw away to Watford (Sadio Mané and Roberto Firmino had scored the first and second goals respectively). He became the top scorer in the five main European leagues - the English Premier League, the Spanish La Liga, the Italian Serie A, the French Ligue 1 and the German Bundesliga - edging out the likes of Lionel Messi and Harry Kane. Former Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard, who had left three seasons earlier, said, "We are witnessing the start of greatness."

Other games in which Salah scored include a 4-2 playoff against 1899 Hoffenheim (his first home goal for Liverpool), a 3-0 win against Stoke City where he was a sub, and all but one of the goals in a 5-0 win against Watford at Anfield.
(re the hint - Elton John is a Watford supporter).

Answer: 2

Salah won his first African Footballer of the Year award in 2017, with his Senegalese team mate and fellow attacker Sadio Mané as runner-up and Gabon's Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in third place. Salah won it again in 2018, with Mané and Aubameyang second and third respectively, but in 2019, Salah and Mané swapped places, with Algeria's Riyad Mahrez third. Salah was not the first Liverpool player to win African Footballer of the Year, however - that honour belongs to Mané's fellow countryman El-Hadji Diouf, who won it in 2002. Al-Ahly's Mahmoud El Khatib was the first Egyptian winner, in 1983.

Other winners in the 2010s were Cameroon's Samuel Eto'o in 2010; Ivory Coast's Yaya Touré, who won it four years running from 2011 to 2014; Aubameyang in 2015; and Mahrez in 2016.

Answer: Sergio Ramos

Liverpool had beaten Roma 7-6 on aggregate in the semi-finals, while Real Madrid had beaten Bayern Munich 4-3 on aggregate. Salah had previously scored against Porto in the Group of 16, Manchester City in both legs of the quarter-final, and twice against Roma in the home semi-final leg. Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos earned the ire of many Liverpool fans, and Salah's team mate Dejan Lovren, when both he and Salah went for the ball and Ramos pulled Salah down, injuring his shoulder and forcing him to leave the pitch. Real Madrid won 3-1. Lovren later got his revenge against Ramos when he elbowed Ramos in a match between Croatia and Spain.

However, Liverpool's fortunes were reversed the following season when they won the Champions' League, beating Tottenham Hotspur in the final. Salah scored the first goal, a penalty, and impact sub Divock Origi - who had come on for Roberto Firmino - scored the second.

Answer: No

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the 2019-2020 season and it was temporarily suspended. When football was brought back, restrictions meant that teams had to play in empty stadiums. Liverpool were 25 points clear of previous holders Manchester City at the time of suspension, and when Chelsea beat City 2-1, Liverpool were officially champions. As a result of the restrictions, the Liverpool team lifted their trophy in an empty Anfield; however, their families were permitted to attend. Although Liverpool fans were not allowed into the stadium due to COVID restrictions, they celebrated in the city centre.

Salah's goal tally was 48 in total: 34 league goals, eight in the Champions' League, two in the Club World Cup and FA Cup, and one each in the UEFA Super Cup and Community Shield.

Answer: The fourth

Although Liverpool had been at the top of the table for some time, it became official when Liverpool beat Tottenham. Salah scored his 29th goal for Liverpool and the fourth of the match in the 63rd minute. Although Tottenham took an early lead when Dominic Solanke scored in the 12th minute, it did not last. Luis Díaz equalised for Liverpool 16 minutes in, followed by Alexis Mac Allister and Cody Gakpo; to add insult to injury, Liverpool's fifth goal was an own goal by Destiny Udogie. Liverpool had last won the title during the COVID-19 pandemic and celebrated in an empty stadium; this time, fans were in full attendance and were able to join in the celebrations.

Two months later, a shadow was cast over the celebrations when Diogo Jota and his brother died in a car crash on 3rd July 2025. Many Liverpool fans laid tributes outside Anfield, while both former and current Liverpool players and managers paid their respects. In a statement on Instagram, Salah - who had partnered Jota on multiple occasions - said that he was frightened to go back to Liverpool knowing that Jota would not be there.