What hits you most in Cairo, after the noise, is the sheer number of people.
Egypt has a population of about 120 million. Its capital city is home to 23 million.
For context, the population of Liverpool is just under one million.
Come to appreciate that and only then do you begin to understand the scale of national fury that followed when Mohamed Salah gave his incendiary interview on 6 December, claiming Liverpool had “thrown him under the bus”.
“This interview was like a revolution in Egypt,” says Diaa El-Sayed, the former Egypt assistant coach, who has known Salah since he was 16.
“99% of Egypt supports Salah, and you can see from the reaction at Anfield that the Liverpool fans support him too.”
Across British media, Salah was criticised heavily for his actions.
Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher branded the interview a “disgrace” and accused the 33-year-old of throwing the club under the bus.
Others insisted Salah was in the wrong for airing his grievances in public. Yet in Cairo, the ‘Egyptian King’ can do no wrong.
“Before Salah, no-one supported Liverpool here,” says Noura Essam, a Cairo local. “Before Salah, we didn’t have a global figure, so we will always support him.”
During the 2018 presidential election, more than one million Egyptians crossed out the names of the listed candidates and cast their vote for Salah.
He is an unofficial leader. In these parts, he is known as the ‘Fourth Pyramid’.
Around Ramses Square, the Cairo transport hub where Salah would change buses to reach training during his nine-hour round commute as a teenager, the cafe-goers describe their disbelief when he was named on the bench for three games in a row by Arne Slot and then left out of the squad for the Champions League trip to Inter Milan.
“When Liverpool played in Milan, all of Egypt supported Inter Milan,” says Osama Ismail, a former Egyptian FA spokesman.
Ismail, who worked with Salah, describes him as “not arrogant but confident” and is adamant the forward wants to continue playing for Liverpool.
