Mo Salah at WC: Broccoli, sweet potatoes & mentoring of new Barca phenom Hamza

4 min readJun 7, 2026 04:30 PM IST

Egypt's Mohamed Salah (10) runs with the ball during an international friendly soccer match against Brazil in Cleveland, Saturday, June 6, 2026. (AP Photo/David Richard)

Mo Salah arrived at the Lilac City of Spokane – a hosting venue that lights up every June for the 3×3 Basketball carnival where over 25,000 assemble. This year it’s the Egyptian Pharaohs with their talisman Salah as Group G stands for popular – other teams being Belgium with last of its golden generation, New Zealand who get called nice for no specific reason, and Iran, the political underdogs in their war with Giants USA.

Salah’s stamp on Egypt though is undeniable, even if Omar Marmoush of Man City, could end up bringing the firepower.

While tales of his daily bus rides to and from Nagrig village are fairly well-known, Spokane is chirping plenty about his diet that has kept him fit over the years.

Writing in the Spokesman Review, a local respected publication, writer Allan Buluku said you needed to look beyond the pitch to understand why Salah has the sharpness of a youngster. “His discipline borders on monastic. His meals are measured and deliberate: broccoli, sweet potatoes, avocado, almond milk, eggs, oats. Gluten-free bread. No sugar. His one indulgence comes only when he returns to Egypt, where he allows himself a plate of koshary, the beloved street dish of rice, lentils, and caramelized onions,” he wrote.

Word on his training drills has travelled. ‘His training is equally meticulous. Ice baths. Pilates. Yoga. Twice-daily meditation. Chess to sharpen his spatial instincts. A hyperbaric oxygen chamber at home,’ the Spokesman Review wrote.

And though Liverpool remains wildly popular through the world and has a loyal fanbase in the US, Salah found gushings at shows by British-American comedian John Oliver who once said, “Mo Salah is a better human being than he is a football player. And he is one of the best football players in the world.”

But it hasn’t escaped anyone that Salah still needs to score a KO spot for Egypt, a wait of several decades, even as he became the most successful footbsller from Africa. He even took them very close to defeating Congo at the Africa Nations Cup, but couldn’t quite. When Brazil beat Egypt 2-1 in a warmup at Cleveland on Sunday, it was a reunion for Salah with Alisson and Fabinho.

Story continues below this ad

Egypt has a long tradition of handing monikers to its players – Mahmoud Hasan is Trezeguet, Nabil Emad is Dunga and the 29 y.o. goal-scorer Mostafa Abdel Raouf is Little Zico, who had made immediate impact when he scored I a friendly against Russia in May.

However, the buzz in Spokane, is coming from the Spanish media, who are reporting that Salah has taken under his wings the 6 footer 18-year-old Barcelona starlet Hamza Abdelkarim.

Mundo Deportivo wrote, ‘Mohamed Salah has become his mentor. The former Liverpool player has been very supportive of Hamza during the first few days of training camp with the national team. Salah offered him a room to share during the World Cup and, as a welcome gift, gave him a jersey.’

Hamza played on loan in the Segunda Federación side FC Barcelona Atlètic after February1 of this year, and his time with the Blaugrana’s U19s led to coach Hossam Hassan picking him for the senior World Cup squad. Cairo-born Hamza played little league soccer in Kuala Lumpur before moving to Egyptian Al Ahly.

Story continues below this ad

Salah who will play his part for Egypt, will also oversee the mentoring of the youngster, as the basalt based Spokane River readies to gush like the Nile.