Last week Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah was the subject of deplorable chants, made by bigoted Chelsea football club fans. It was yet another incident of Chelsea fans acting in an egregiously racist and offensive manner, a scene we have witnessed all too often in recent years.
Making it even worse, this time the target was a former Blues player and a tremendous human being. Mo Salah is about as good a guy off the pitch as you’ll ever find. He has inspired people world wide to convert to his Islamic faith. This week brought much better off the pitch news for Mohamed Salah, as the Egyptian international was named to the Time 100 most influential people list.
.@iamjohnoliver: "@MoSalah is a better human being than he is a football player. And he’s one of the best football players in the world" #TIME100 https://t.co/qHTDgMBRsv pic.twitter.com/BEl6JM4Cxh
— TIME (@TIME) April 17, 2019
Listed in the icons section, Salah’s descriptive essay was penned by late night talk show host and comedian John Oliver, a lifelong die-hard Liverpool supporter.
“You’d be hard-pressed to find a professional athlete in any sport less affected by their success or status than Mo, which is incredible because I can’t imagine the kind of pressure that comes with the intensity of adoration he receives,” Oliver wrote.
“Mo is an iconic figure for Egyptians, Scousers and Muslims the world over, and yet he always comes across as a humble, thoughtful, funny man who isn’t taking any of this too seriously.”
You also need to read what Oliver wrote about Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp, over at this link.
.@MoSalah: “People always have big expectations from you. You see the kids, they’re wearing your shirt and they say they wish they could be like you one day” #TIME100 https://t.co/WS9zrIKhKF pic.twitter.com/EshT5V3anQ
— TIME (@TIME) April 17, 2019
There were two other athletes named to the #Time100 basketball juggernaut Lebron James and U.S. international soccer superstar Alex Morgan.
Liverpool vs FC Porto UEFA Champions League FYIs (Liverpool up 2-0 on aggregate)
Liverpool starting XI Prediction: go to this link
Injury report for both sides- go here to this link
Kickoff- Wednesday Apr 17, Estádio do Dragão 8pm
Google Result Probability- Liverpool win 47%, Draw 27%, FC Porto win 26%
Odds to qualify for the UCL semifinals: Liverpool 1/33, Porto 10/1
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, regularly appears as a guest pundit on WGN CLTV and co-hosts the “Let’s Get Weird, Sports” podcast on SB Nation.
He also contributes sociopolitical essays to Chicago Now. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram. The content of his cat’s Instagram account is unquestionably superior to his.