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African Players in Europe: Salah Leads Egyptian Goal Rush

Liverpool's Mohamed Salah scores his side's opening goal during the Premier League soccer match between Crystal Palace and Liverpool at Selhurst Park, in London, England, Saturday, Dec. 9, 2023. (AP)
Liverpool's Mohamed Salah scores his side's opening goal during the Premier League soccer match between Crystal Palace and Liverpool at Selhurst Park, in London, England, Saturday, Dec. 9, 2023. (AP)
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African Players in Europe: Salah Leads Egyptian Goal Rush

Liverpool's Mohamed Salah scores his side's opening goal during the Premier League soccer match between Crystal Palace and Liverpool at Selhurst Park, in London, England, Saturday, Dec. 9, 2023. (AP)
Liverpool's Mohamed Salah scores his side's opening goal during the Premier League soccer match between Crystal Palace and Liverpool at Selhurst Park, in London, England, Saturday, Dec. 9, 2023. (AP)

Prolific Liverpool scorer Mohamed Salah led an Egyptian goal charge across Europe at the weekend with Omar Marmoush and Mostafa Mohamed also finding the net.

Salah scored his 200th goal for the Reds and 150th in the Premier League by equalizing at Crystal Palace in a match his team went on to win 2-1 in added time.

Marmoush was first to score for Eintracht Frankfurt in a 5-1 thrashing of champions Bayern Munich, and Mohamed equalized for Nantes in a 2-1 loss at Paris Saint-Germain.

Here, AFP Sport highlights African headline-makers in the major European leagues:

ENGLAND

MOHAMED SALAH (Liverpool)

He scored his 200th goal for Liverpool to spark their fightback against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park. Just moments after Palace's Ghana international Jordan Ayew was sent off, Salah hit a deflected 76th-minute equalizer and Harvey Elliott scored the stoppage-time winner to send Liverpool top of the Premier League. Salah's 14th goal this term made him the fifth player to score 200 for Liverpool in all competitions after Ian Rush (346), Roger Hunt (285), Gordon Hodgson (241) and Billy Liddell (228).

"The most important thing was that we won the game. It's a great feeling. I'm happy for the record and that we won the game," Salah said. In his 247th Premier League appearance, he also reached 150 goals in the competition, including two scored for Chelsea, putting him in the all-time top-10 list, level with Michael Owen.

ABDOULAYE DOUCOURE (Everton)

The Mali midfielder set Everton on course for a 2-0 win against Chelsea at Goodison Park. Doucoure, 30, scored his sixth goal this season in the 54th minute, firing home after Dominic Calvert-Lewin's shot was blocked. Deducted 10 points for financial breaches recently, Sean Dyche's side have managed to climb out of the relegation zone thanks to Doucoure's determined efforts.

GERMANY

OMAR MARMOUSH (Eintracht Frankfurt)

Marmoush opened the scoring as Eintracht rampaged to a sensational Bundesliga victory over champions Bayern. The Egyptian smashed a well-timed shot into the bottom corner after just 12 minutes, kick-starting an extraordinary match in Frankfurt. Marmoush set up two more goals, either side of half-time, while Franco-Cameroonian Junior Dina Ebimbe grabbed a brace as Bayern collapsed. The defeat left Bayern four points behind league leaders Bayer Leverkusen.

IHLAS BEBOU (Hoffenheim)

Togo international Bebou scored his first goal of the season in Hoffenheim's comfortable 3-1 win over Bochum. Bebou came on as a substitute to score off a second-half header and put Hoffenheim three goals ahead midway through the second half. Bebou has struggled to hold down a starting place this season, making seven of his 12 appearances from the bench.

FRANCE

MOSTAFA MOHAMED (Nantes)

The Egyptian equalized for mid-table Nantes 10 minutes into the second half at leaders Paris Saint-Germain with a near-post header off a corner. However, a late Randal Kolo Muani goal gave the home side victory. Mohamed is the leading African scorer in Ligue 1 this season with six goals.

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Flotilla on Seine, Rain and Celine Dion Mark Start of Paris Olympics

Members of delegations are seen during the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Paris on July 26, 2024. (AFP)
Members of delegations are seen during the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Paris on July 26, 2024. (AFP)
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Flotilla on Seine, Rain and Celine Dion Mark Start of Paris Olympics

Members of delegations are seen during the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Paris on July 26, 2024. (AFP)
Members of delegations are seen during the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Paris on July 26, 2024. (AFP)

French President Emmanuel Macron declared the Olympic Games open on Friday after a soaking wet ceremony in which athletes were cheered by the crowd along the Seine, dancers took to the roofs of Paris and Lady Gaga sang a French cabaret song.

France's three-time Olympic gold medalists Marie-Jose Perec and Teddy Riner then lit the Olympic cauldron, suspended on a hot-air balloon, before Canada's Celine Dion sang Edith Piaf's "Hymn to Love", in her first public performance in years, drawing huge cheers from the crowd.

The 30-meter (98 ft) high balloon carrying a 7-meter diameter ring of fire took to the air and was hovering dozens of meters above the ground.

It will be in the air from sunset until 2 am local time every day, organizers said.

"We are so proud of this show, I'm so proud that sport and culture were celebrated in such a fantastic manner tonight, it was a first and the result was fantastic despite the rain," Paris 2024 organizing president Tony Estanguet told reporters.

A fleet of barges took the competitors on a 6 km-stretch of the river alongside some of the French capital's most famous landmarks, as performers recreated some of the sports to be showcased in the Games on floating platforms.

It was the first time that an opening ceremony has taken place outside a stadium, adding to the headaches for a vast security operation, just hours after a sabotage attack on the high-speed TGV rail network caused travel chaos across France.

"I invite everybody: dream with us. Like the Olympic athletes, be inspired with the joy that only sport can give us. Let us celebrate this Olympic spirit of living in peace," International Olympics Committee President Thomas Bach said as the ceremony came to an end at the foot of the Eiffel Tower.

More than 10,500 athletes will compete at the Olympics, 100 years since Paris last staged the Games. Competition started on Wednesday and the first of the 329 gold medals will be awarded on Saturday.

As the show started four hours earlier, a giant plume of blue, white and red smoke, resembling the French flag, was sent high above a bridge over the Seine as part of a show that included many postcard-like depictions of France, including a huge cancan line performed by Moulin Rouge dancers on the banks.

A more modern image of the country was on display when French-Malian pop star Aya Nakamura, the most-listened to French female singer in the world, sang some of her biggest hits, accompanied by the French Republican Guard's army choir.

Nakamura's performance drew some of the ceremony's biggest cheers. Rumors of her inclusion had sparked a row over French identity, with supporters saying she represented the vibrancy of modern-day France while her detractors said her music owes more to foreign influences than French.

POURING RAIN

While the celebration of French culture, fashion and history was warmly cheered by many of the 300,000 spectators lining the river, hundreds were seen leaving early as the rain fell.

"It was good other than the rain, it was nice, it was different, instead of being in a stadium being on the river, so that's always a good thing - interesting, unique," said Avid Pureval, 34, who came to the Games from Ohio.

"Once you're wet, it's fine," he said. Still, he was heading back to his hotel after the French boat passed, long before the ceremony ended.

"It would have been better with sun," said Josephine, from Paris, sitting beside her 9-year-old daughter and who paid 1,600 euros ($1,736) for her seat.

With many world leaders and VIPs present, the ceremony was protected by snipers on rooftops. The Seine's riverbed was swept for bombs, and Paris' airspace was closed.

Some 45,000 police and thousands of soldiers were deployed in a huge security operation in Paris for the ceremony. Armed police patrolled along the river in inflatable boats as the armada made its passage along the Seine.

WELCOMED IN TAHITI

A mix of French and international stars, including soccer great Zinedine Zidane, 14-times French Open champion Rafa Nadal, 23-times Grand Slam champion Serena Williams and three paralympic athletes were among the last torchbearers before the cauldron was lit.

It will blaze until the closing ceremony on Aug. 11.

At the start of the parade, applause erupted for the Greek boat - the first delegation, by tradition - and there were even bigger cheers for the boat that followed, carrying the refugees' team. The French, US and Ukrainian delegations also got loud cheers.

The two most decorated athletes in the Games' history, Michael Phelps and Martin Fourcade, unveiled the gold, silver and bronze medals.

At one point, there was a live crossover to the early morning welcome ceremony at the surfing venue, 16,000 km away in the Pacific island of Tahiti.

ISRAEL DELEGATION

France is at its highest level of security, though officials have repeatedly said there was no specific threat to the opening ceremony or the Games.

But since the last Games - the Winter Olympics held in Beijing in 2022 - wars have erupted in Ukraine and Gaza, providing a tense international backdrop.

Israeli competitors are being escorted by elite tactical units to and from events and are given 24-hour protection throughout the Olympics due to the war in Gaza, officials say.

The Israel delegation got some boos, but also a lot of cheers, as it sailed by spectators, Reuters reporters saw. Chants of "Palestine! Palestine! Palestine!" rose from the crowd as the boat passed.

Macron, who won a second mandate two years ago, had hoped the Olympics would cement his legacy. But his failed bet on a snap legislative election has weakened him and cast a shadow over his moment on the international stage.