The International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) revealed on Tuesday a list of the top 100 volleyball players of the decade and our outside spiker Ahmed Salah was named in the list.
FIVB’s report mentioned that the players included in the list “have not only collected the most prestigious awards but have also inspired a generation of budding stars, recreation players and fans for the influence they have revealed on the courts”.
The report shed light on some of the key stages in Salah’s career and described him as “Egypt’s Favorite Volleyball Son”.
Let’s take a glimpse at what was said about our spiker:
- The Cairo-born number four has also used his standing as Egypt’s highest-profile player and position as captain to drive Egypt to new levels of success.
- Most recently the 36-year-old led the team at the Japan 2019 FIVB Volleyball World Cup. But they missed out on a place at what would have been Salah’s third Olympic Games after he appeared at the Beijing 2008 and Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympic Games.
- In total, he has made 10 Olympic appearances and is now passing on that experience to help the younger Egyptian players develop.
- He was named leading scorer with 230 points when the country held the 2015 World Cup.
- Salah began his international career while playing for Al Ahly at the start of the millennium, and has played abroad for Russia's Dynamo Yanter of Kaliningrad, Saudi Arabia's Al Hilal from Riyadh, as well as a season each with Turkey's Halkbank Ankara with whom he earned a gold in the third-tier European CEV Cup, and Galatasaray Istanbul.
- Since 2018 he has been back in the colors of Al Ahly, for whom he has won six of his seven African Clubs Championships, as well as five Arab Club Championship gold medals.
- The outside spiker also featured for Egypt at the Italy 2010, Poland 2014, and Italy-Bulgaria FIVB Volleyball Men’s World Championships and helped them to six consecutive gold medals at the African Championships, from 2005 to 2015.
The report also mentioned some of Salah’s statements regarding his career and his role as one of the most influential volleyball players in the world.
“I learned from my captains before, from the more senior players. I still follow their advice until now. When we play in a big tournament like the World Cup, we try to give inspiration to our young players in Egypt to see that we represent our country. These young players can challenge themselves to aspire to play good volleyball on the top level.”
