\n<\/p>\n
What hits you most in Cairo, after the noise, is the sheer number of people.<\/b><\/p>\n
Egypt has a population of about 120 million. Its capital city is home to 23 million.<\/p>\n
For context, the population of Liverpool is just under one million.<\/p>\n
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”.<\/p>\n
“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. <\/p>\n
“99% of Egypt supports Salah, and you can see from the reaction at Anfield that the Liverpool fans support him too.”<\/p>\n
Across British media, Salah was criticised heavily for his actions.<\/p>\n
Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher branded the interview a “disgrace” and accused the 33-year-old of throwing the club under the bus. <\/p>\n
Others insisted Salah was in the wrong for airing his grievances in public. Yet in Cairo, the ‘Egyptian King’ can do no wrong.<\/p>\n
“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.”<\/p>\n
During the 2018 presidential election, more than one million Egyptians crossed out the names of the listed candidates and cast their vote for Salah.<\/p>\n
He is an unofficial leader. In these parts, he is known as the ‘Fourth Pyramid’.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
“When Liverpool played in Milan, all of Egypt supported Inter Milan,” says Osama Ismail, a former Egyptian FA spokesman.<\/p>\n
Ismail, who worked with Salah, describes him as “not arrogant but confident” and is adamant the forward wants to continue playing for Liverpool.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n