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.



Saudi Arabia’s Participation in Paris Olympics Part of Quality of Life Program, Al-Bakr Says

The efforts of the sports system have combined to achieve the strategic goal assigned by Vision 2030 to the Quality of Life Program. (SPA)
The efforts of the sports system have combined to achieve the strategic goal assigned by Vision 2030 to the Quality of Life Program. (SPA)
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Saudi Arabia’s Participation in Paris Olympics Part of Quality of Life Program, Al-Bakr Says

The efforts of the sports system have combined to achieve the strategic goal assigned by Vision 2030 to the Quality of Life Program. (SPA)
The efforts of the sports system have combined to achieve the strategic goal assigned by Vision 2030 to the Quality of Life Program. (SPA)

CEO of Saudi Arabia’s Quality of Life Program Khalid bin Abdullah Al-Bakr said on Friday the Kingdom’s participation in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games is part of integrated and comprehensive efforts to build a distinguished future for the sports sector in the Kingdom.

This will help reach the goals of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 in achieving sports excellence and building a vital and stimulating sports sector for young Saudi men and women.

Al-Bakr said the participation reflects the support of the country’s wise leadership for the sports sector, as well as the efforts made by the Ministry of Sports and the Saudi Olympic and Paralympic Committee to develop the sector under the supervision of Sports Minister and Chairman of the Olympic and Paralympic Committee Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki bin Faisal.

The efforts of the sports system have combined to achieve the strategic goal assigned by Vision 2030 to the Quality of Life Program, which is “achieving excellence in several sports regionally and globally” by launching several initiatives on supporting and empowering Saudi athletes and contributing to increasing the number of athletes participating in the Olympic Games.

Since its launch in 2018, the program has offered many initiatives to develop the sports sector, Al-Bakr said. He cited the Elite Athletes Development Program, which trained and empowered Saudi players participating in the Paris Olympics, in addition to initiatives concerned with supporting and empowering women to contribute to the sports system, the Saudi Games, and building sports academies, including the establishment of Mahd Academy.

The program seeks to discover, develop, and support sports talents with the aim of creating a sports generation capable of competing in and representing the Kingdom in various regional and international events, he added.