Mohamed Salah and long time rival Sergio Ramos had an awkward hug and pat in their backs at the Globe Soccer Award 2022.
At an awards ceremony in Dubai, the two met face to face for the first time since the Spanish defender injured the Egyptian in the 2018 UEFA Champions League final.
The 2022 TikTok Fan’s Player of the Year, Egyptian forward Salah, was there to accept his award.
He won the award ahead of players like Kylian Mbappe, Erling Haaland, and Lionel Messi.
At the extravagant party, he was forced to interact with Ramos, a former opponent who is now playing for Paris Saint-Germain.
Following a brutal challenge from the then-Real Madrid defender that left him with a dislocated shoulder in the first half of the 2018 Champions League final, Salah had to be taken off.
Without their talisman, the Reds fell apart as a 2 goals from substitute Gareth Bale and a Karim Benzema goal following a Loris Karius error gave the visitors a 3-1 victory.
Later, the 30-year-old Egyptian star would call it the “worst moment” of his professional life.
Based on the visuals from the event hosted by the the Dubai Sports Council, it appears that all has been forgiven because it depicted Salah and Ramos hugging each other, with AC Milan icon Zlatan Ibrahimovic joining them.
Salah has before stated: “I remember when I went off, it was the worst moment in my career. It was the worst thing to happen for a player.”
“I knew the result from the hospital. We couldn’t lose that way.“
“I was really down at that time. We had a good season and came to the Champions League final and then I went off.”
What happened between Mohamed Salah and Sergio Ramos?
Following the disputed conclusion of the 2018 Champions League final, Reds supporters were left with a sour taste.
Both clubs have distinguished histories and rank among the most prestigious on the continent.
However, the disagreement involving Sergio Ramos and Mohamed Salah in 2018 may be the most notable incident involving the two in recent years.
But what precisely happened between the two?
The infamous beef between Salah and Ramos started during the Real Madrid vs. Liverpool 2018 Champions League final in Kiev.
Ramos was seen with his arm locked around Salah’s shoulder during the hard tackle that sent the two crashing to the ground during the first half of the game.
Salah was ultimately unable to continue and had to leave the field in tears.
After receiving a dislocated shoulder diagnosis, the striker was forced to withdraw from Egypt’s World Cup match against Uruguay a month after the UEFA Champions League final. Uruguay won Egypt 1-0.
Before then, the Egypt international was compelled to watch his Liverpool team suffer a devastating 3-1 defeat in the final from the hospital bed.
After Karim Benzema’s first goal in the first half, Sadio Mane equalized, but two goals from Gareth Bale gave Real Madrid the win.
At the time, it was a record for Real Madrid to have won the competition 13 times.
Naturally, the situation left both Liverpool’s coaching staff and players feeling extremely frustrated because, had Salah stayed on the field, the final result might have been decidedly different.
Before winning the Premier League for the first time in 2020, Liverpool won the Champions League in 2019 final.
Salah helps Egypt beat Belgium
In a friendly match on Friday, Egypt defeated Belgium 2-1, a somber setback for the Belgian team that belied their standing as one of the favorites to win the World Cup in Qatar.
Egypt won in a stop-start match in Kuwait City thanks to an error by Kevin De Bruyne and a brilliant ball from Mohamed Salah.
Note that Egypt failed to qualify for the World Cup in March after losing the playoff final to Sadio Mane’s Senegal.
After De Bruyne lost possession just outside of his own penalty area, Mostafa Mohamed scored in the 33rd minute with a rasping short ball to give Egypt a lead at the break.
This was doubled just after the start of the second half when Mahmoud Trezeguet scored with his left foot on the counterattack after Salah’s deft ball exposed Belgium’s defensive inertia.
Yannick Carrasco set up Lois Openda for a goal with 14 minutes remaining, and four minutes later, he nearly scored an equalizer.
Salah came close to scoring his own goal right at the end as Egypt managed to hold out for the victory.
