By scoring two goals in his team’s four-way victory over Manchester United in the English Premier League, Egyptian Mohamed Salah celebrated “yoga” – a physical, mental and spiritual ritual that the striker practices in his daily life.
With this victory, Liverpool temporarily rose to the top of the league at the expense of Manchester City in a fierce title fight expected to continue until the end of the season.
Salah, 29, ended a six-game stalemate after scoring the team’s second goal in the first half and then adding a fourth with five minutes left in time.
After scoring his 21st league goal of the season to secure the lead in the scorers’ table, he stood in front of the crowd, lifted his left leg and placed it on his right knee, clasping his hands.
In ‘yoga’, this movement is called ‘tree pose’ (Verakshana in Hindi) and symbolizes balance and concentration, and some like to interpret it as Salah’s expression of his commitment to Liverpool, who have been in lengthy negotiations in recent months regarding the extension of his contract with the club, which is ending in 2023.
However, the 29-year-old Egyptian celebrated the occasion for the first time in the 2018-2019 season when he scored his side’s second goal at Anfield in a 2-0 win over Chelsea.
“I’m a yogi,” he said then. “I do yoga, and this came to my mind.”
He has occasionally repeated this during his international matches and other confrontations with his team, except that he has two traditional ceremonies which are either an outstretched hand or a prostration rakah, which is also practiced by many Muslim players around the world. . Al-Masri said this in an interview with CNN in 2018: “It’s not like kissing the ground, it’s more like praying or thanking God for what He has given me, so yes, it’s a (thanksgiving) prayer and prayer for victory.” .
