Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah will become the highest scoring Egyptian of all time if he finds the net against Brentford in the Premier League at Anfield on Saturday.
Salah has scored 313 goals in a brilliant career for club and country, with stats app Five Star Football saying he equalled former Egypt captain Hossam Hassan’s record with a penalty in Liverpool’s 1-0 win over Fulham on Wednesday.
Salah has scored 185 times for Liverpool since joining in 2017 and will catch former captain Steven Gerrard, the fifth-highest scorer in the Merseyside club’s history, with another goal. Ian Rush leads the Liverpool all-time list with 346.
Egypt’s 30-year-old skipper Salah is Liverpool’s record Premier League scorer with 136 goals and has won the Champions League, Premier League, FA Cup and League Cup with the club.
Salah’s other club goals came at AS Roma (34), Fiorentina (9), Chelsea (2), Basle (20) plus 12 for his childhood club Al-Mokawloon Al-Arab.
On the international front there is some debate about the precise number of goals for both players. Salah has 51, but two of those came in a semi-official 10-0 friendly win against Swaziland in 2013.
Hossam, who won 176 caps during his stellar 19-year international career that brought three African Nations Cup titles, is credited with 76, though several of those are considered to have come in unofficial matches.
Al Hilal coach Ramon Diaz refused to be drawn on claims the Saudi Arabian club are attempting to sign Lionel Messi as he focused on his side’s clash with Urawa Red Diamonds in the second leg of the Asian Champions League final on Saturday.
Messi has been linked with a lucrative move to the four-time Asian champions when his contract with Paris St Germain expires at the end of the season, with the proposed move coming after Cristiano Ronaldo’s switch to Riyadh’s Al Nassr in January.
Diaz, however, stressed his sights are fixed on the meeting with Urawa at Saitama Stadium in the continental club final rather than the future of Argentina’s World Cup-winning captain.
“Now we’re focused on the game,” said Diaz, whose side were held to a 1-1 draw in the first leg in Riyadh last week. “We have the final and after the final we’ll see what’s going to happen.”
Al Hilal are chasing a record-extending fifth Asian Champions League success and are the holders after defeating Pohang Steelers in the 2021 final.
Urawa hold a slim advantage through Shinzo Koroki’s away goal and Al Hilal will go into the game without the suspended Salem Al Dawsari, who scored in the first leg before being sent off late in the game.
Captain Salman Al Faraj is also expected to miss the game due to injury but Diaz is confident his team have the experience to overcome the loss of the influential duo.
“We have a big team and we are going to face a lot of fans here, but we’re used to it,” he said.
“This team won the Asian Champions League twice (in the last three editions). This is the third time, this is our target to bring this home.
“We’re going to try to concentrate and not have any mistakes like the one that happened in Riyadh to cause the goal,” he added after Al Hilal defender Ali Al Bulayhi’s attempted interception hit the post and rebounded to Koroki who scored.
“We’re an experienced team. The players have played in many situations like this and we’re looking forward to winning this trophy.”