Egypt Forward Omar Marmoush Lighting up the Bundesliga

Frankfurt's Egyptian forward #07 Omar Marmoush celebrates his 1-1 during the German first division Bundesliga football match between Eintracht Frankfurt and FC Bayern Munich in Frankfurt, western Germany on October 6, 2024. (AFP)
Frankfurt's Egyptian forward #07 Omar Marmoush celebrates his 1-1 during the German first division Bundesliga football match between Eintracht Frankfurt and FC Bayern Munich in Frankfurt, western Germany on October 6, 2024. (AFP)
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Egypt Forward Omar Marmoush Lighting up the Bundesliga

Frankfurt's Egyptian forward #07 Omar Marmoush celebrates his 1-1 during the German first division Bundesliga football match between Eintracht Frankfurt and FC Bayern Munich in Frankfurt, western Germany on October 6, 2024. (AFP)
Frankfurt's Egyptian forward #07 Omar Marmoush celebrates his 1-1 during the German first division Bundesliga football match between Eintracht Frankfurt and FC Bayern Munich in Frankfurt, western Germany on October 6, 2024. (AFP)

Egypt forward Omar Marmoush is the man of the moment in the Bundesliga after a blistering start to the season for Eintracht Frankfurt.

Marmoush denied Bayern Munich a win in a thrilling game Sunday with a stoppage-time equalizer that made it 3-3. It was his second goal of the game. He also set up the other for Hugo Ekitiké, when he ran clear of Dayot Upamecano on a counterattack.

"Marmoush is a player who’s only going to get better with time," Bayern coach Vincent Kompany said. "What he did for Ekitiké’s goal is not normal. To push past Upa with strength, no one did that before for the whole season.

"And then to make the right decision at the end, the quality in his strike, and the speed. Sometimes he looks quite relaxed, then when he gets going, he’s really fast."

Marmoush has been stealing the attention from Bayern star Harry Kane, who failed to score Sunday and has five goals from six Bundesliga games this season.

Marmoush, who has now scored in five games straight, has eight, while he has also set up another six for his Frankfurt teammates.

"We’re like a family," he said. "You see that on the field, when we’re celebrating, the ones who didn’t play (join), we celebrate as a team."

Marmoush appears to have made a jump in performance since last season, when he scored 12 goals and set up nine in his 29 Bundesliga appearances.

Frankfurt coach Dino Toppmöller said he had made a "little deal" before the season with Marmoush, but wouldn’t reveal what it is.

"I told him that a second year with us would do him good because he’s on the way up and hasn’t reached the end," Toppmöller said. "And you can see that in this fantastic season."

The 25-year-old Marmoush is the latest in a long line of forwards who have excelled at Frankfurt, after Randal Kolo Muani, Sébastien Haller, Luka Jović and Jay-Jay Okocha.

Marmoush has had to be patient, working his way through at Wolfsburg, St. Pauli and Stuttgart after joining the former from Cairo-based Wadi Degla SC in 2017.

It’s only since he joined Frankfurt in 2023 that the tireless attacker has added goals to his repertoire.

On Sunday, he combined well with Ekitiké, while Éric Junior Dina Ebimbe headed the ball into his path for Marmoush's second goal.

"When I came last season, we took time to play together and to know what he likes on the pitch, what I like also, and I think in time we just created a connection," Ekitiké said. "Today he had two goals, one assist, So, yeah, he helped the team a lot."

Marmoush’s transformation into a goal-getter is good news for Egypt, which struggled for them without the injured Mohamed Salah at the African Cup of Nations in January.

Marmoush only scored one as the seven-time champion lost on penalties to Congo in the round of 16.

Next up for Frankfurt is a visit to defending champion Bayer Leverkusen after the international break.



Alexander-Arnold’s Possible Move to Madrid ‘Doesn’t Affect Me at All,’ Says Liverpool Manager Slot

Football - Premier League - Liverpool v Newcastle United - Anfield, Liverpool, Britain - January 1, 2024 Liverpool's Trent Alexander-Arnold applauds fans. (Reuters)
Football - Premier League - Liverpool v Newcastle United - Anfield, Liverpool, Britain - January 1, 2024 Liverpool's Trent Alexander-Arnold applauds fans. (Reuters)
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Alexander-Arnold’s Possible Move to Madrid ‘Doesn’t Affect Me at All,’ Says Liverpool Manager Slot

Football - Premier League - Liverpool v Newcastle United - Anfield, Liverpool, Britain - January 1, 2024 Liverpool's Trent Alexander-Arnold applauds fans. (Reuters)
Football - Premier League - Liverpool v Newcastle United - Anfield, Liverpool, Britain - January 1, 2024 Liverpool's Trent Alexander-Arnold applauds fans. (Reuters)

Liverpool's bid to clinch a record-tying Premier League title hasn't been affected by persistent reports linking Trent Alexander-Arnold with a move to Real Madrid at the end of the season, manager Arne Slot said Tuesday.

Sections of the British media reported during the international break that Madrid is in discussions about finalizing a deal to bring in Alexander-Arnold, who is in the last year of his contract at Liverpool and would be available on a free transfer. Neither club has publicly commented on a potential deal.

Slot said his club has lived the entire season with speculation about Alexander-Arnold as well as both Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk, who are also out of contract at the end of the season.

“It's a situation that is there for eight or nine months now,” Slot said, “and I think all these three players have performed so well under these circumstances, so it doesn't affect me at all.”

Slot said there would not have been so much talk about Alexander-Arnold in recent weeks had he been fit and played for England in World Cup qualifiers. Instead, he is recovering from hurting his ankle when Liverpool was eliminated from the Champions League by Paris Saint-Germain on March 11.

That means Alexander-Arnold will miss the Premier League game against local rival Everton on Wednesday. Ahead of the midweek round, Liverpool leads by 12 points over second-place Arsenal with nine games remaining as the clubs looks to a seal a 20th English league title, tying the record with Manchester United.

“He is injured,” Slot said of Alexander-Arnold, "and that means for him he is fully focused on his recovery and for us it means we are trying to help him to be back as soon as he can. For the rest, for the last eight months, it went up and down maybe with all the talks about him, Virgil or Mo, but we have never been focused on those talks.

“We have been focused on what we have to do. For Virgil and Mo, that is trying to win the Merseyside derby and for Trent it is making sure he is fit as soon as he can (be).”

The 26-year-old Alexander-Arnold has played his entire career at Liverpool and won every major honor with the Merseyside club, including the Premier League and Champions League.