Liverpool and Egypt fans probably wish there were two versions of Mohamed Salah, and now their collective wishes have been granted...almost - in the form of an extremely convincing lookalike.
Salah’s compatriot Ahmed Bahaa is the spitting image of Liverpool ace Salah, who is set to star with Egypt at the FIFA World Cup in Russia this summer. Fans are rating the ringer as the best they have seen.
Bahaa is an engineer based in Giza, Egypt, but his uncanny resemblance to 43-goal wonder Salah has made him something of a star in his homeland – and has bewildered fans who struggle to tell the two apart.
The lookalike has already made numerous appearances on Egyptian television as far back as 2016. Now, with the country gripped by World Cup fever and Liverpool in the Champions League final thanks to Salah’s exploits, Bahaa’s popularity has skyrocketed.
However, Bahaa revealed that when the two met, Salah told him: "it is him who looks like me because I [Bahaa] am older."
The real Mo Salah will be the lynchpin of an Egypt side making its first appearance at a World Cup in 28 years. ‘The Pharaohs’ will be pitted in Group A against host nation Russia.
Egypt begin their World Cup campaign against Uruguay at Central Stadium in Ekaterinburg on June 15, one day after Russia and Saudi Arabia contest the tournament’s opener at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow.
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The 25-year-old Salah won the PFA Players’ Player of the Year award for the 2017/18 Premier League season and is expected to be a pivotal player in Liverpool’s final appearance against Real Madrid on May 26 in Kiev.
Other lookalikes of sporting heroes include ‘Kazakh Conor McGregor,’ Islam Badurgov, who often parades the beaches of California donning transfer tattoos of ‘The Notorious One’ and posing for selfies with fans.
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