Panathinaikos 18-year-old forward Bilal Mazhar, known as the Egyptian Erling Haaland, declared his wish to represent the Egyptian national team in the future.
Bilal is the son of former Egyptian international Mazhar Abdelrahman, who wore the shirts of multiple big clubs including French outfit AS Monaco and Egypt giants Zamalek.
The youngster has left Egypt for a chance abroad at the age of 15, and he’s now playing for Greek giants Panathinaikos’ U19 team.
Eligible to represent both Egypt & France at the international level, Mazhar has scored seven goals while assisting once in five games with the U19 team this season.
Despite being approached by the French FA, Mazhar insists he wants to follow in the footsteps of his father and represent the Pharaohs.
“I am in Greece for three years now, since I was 18 years old. I haven’t played a lot at the start but now I am doing better, I scored seven goals in five games,” Bilal said.
“I have both Egyptian and French citizenships, but I played for the Egyptian youth teams, and I hope to represent the first team in the future, it’s my dream.
“The French national team contacted me last year, but the Egyptian side hasn’t contacted me yet.
“I hope to do the same as Omar Marmoush and join the national team soon.
“My role model is Mohamed Salah, he’s made European teams look at Egyptian players. I want to play for a big European club in the future, specifically in the Premier League.
“I was contacted by Al Ahly and Zamalek when I was in Egypt, but I chose to have my journey abroad.”
