Media praises Mo Salah for showing up in person to receive FWA Footballer of the Year Award
Mohamed Salah poses with the award in London.
Gulf Today Report
The British press praised the presence of the Egyptian star Mohamed Salah himself to receive the Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year Award, despite his preoccupation with his Liverpool team in the pursuit of the quartet this season.
Salah travelled from Liverpool to London on a private plane and spoke with the guests.
He also gave a distinctive speech on the podium, and his coach, Jurgen Klopp, sent a video message congratulating his star and jokingly asking journalists to return him to Liverpool as soon as possible.
Indeed, a car was waiting for Salah immediately after the event to take him to the airport.
Chelsea representatives were absent from the ceremony due to the sanctions imposed on its former owner Roman Abramovich, which prevented officials from buying tickets for the concert.
Salah is readying himself for a "revenge" mission against Real Madrid in this month's Champions League final.
Salah, who received the award in London on Thursday, was forced off injured early on after a Sergio Ramos challenge as Liverpool were beaten by Real in the 2018 final in Kyiv.
Now the two sides, who between them have been crowned champions of Europe on 19 occasions, will meet in this season's final in Paris on May 28 following Real's extraordinary comeback win over Manchester City on Wednesday and Liverpool's defeat of Villarreal the day before.
Egypt international Salah, 29, when asked if he saw the final as a chance for Liverpool to gain revenge for their defeat four years ago by 13-times European kings Real, replied: "Yes, we lost in the final, it was a sad day for all of us and I think it is revenge time.
"I'm so excited, I said before the game that I wanted to play Madrid in the final.
"I'm sure it is going to be a tough game, they beat a lot of good teams so we just need to focus on the game."
