20-year-old Egyptian wizard Mohamed Salah had some interesting things to say after Thursday night’s scintillating performance against England’s Tottenham Hotspur in the first leg of the Europa League quarter-final.
The FC Basel dazzling winger was ecstatic with both the team and his individual performance against a top team in European football having assisted in the first goal and creating various chances. He’s was also vocal about taking on Spurs talisman Gareth Bale.
“I’m happy with my performance against Bale. He’s lately been one of the best players in the world.” Salah declared, speaking to the Egyptian press.
“Putting in such a performance against a quality player like Bale while the whole world watches one just makes the world view you in another perspective.”
Talking about his missed chances, Salah wasn’t too concerned and was looking forward to adding his name to the score sheet in the home leg.
“I wish I’d scored in the away leg, but I’ll and get on the score sheet in the return leg. We haven’t qualified yet. A one nil loss can knock us out of the tournament.”
“Hopefully I can continue putting in good performances with Basel with El-Nenny, progress in the Europa League and achieve glory in Europe.”
Talking vividly about his future dreams, Salah was fond of one famous Spanish side.
“I still dream of playing for Barcelona. This is why I put in all the effort in training and games.”
Spurs veteran American goalkeeper Brad Friedel was full of praise for the Egyptian winger, talking to UEFA.com.
“Basel set up to hit us on the counterattack and they did that really effectively, I thought their right-winger [Mohamed Salah] posed us a lot of problems.
“In the second half he [Salah] did a great job of keeping possession for the team.”
Al-Ahly icon Mohamed Barakat also expressed his delight after watching young compatriot Salah star against Tottenham.
“I’ve watched the whole game and I was very happy with Salah’s performance. He made me feel proud,” former Egypt international Barakat told FilGoal.
“I think he represents a fantastic image to our foreign-based players.”
FC Basel will play Spurs in the return leg on Thursday 11th April in Basel where both Salah and El-Nenny will hope to aid the Swiss side to glory.
Mohamed Salah’s stats vs. Tottenham:
Minutes played: 86
Shots: 6 (highest in match)
Shots on target: 3 (highest in match)
Total passes: 32
Key passes: 4 (highest in match)
Pass success: 94% (highest among Basel’s starting XI)
Touches: 64 (second among Basel)
Successful dribbles: 7 (highest in match)
Dispossessed: 4
Turnovers: 3
Interceptions: 1
Successful crosses: 1
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