Arsenal’s newest addition, Mohamed Elneny, has given his first interview to the official Arsenal website, and he has revealed that his mother and father brought him up from birth to be a top footballer.
This is how he described his upbringing. “My father is a football coach back home in Egypt in my town, Almahalah,” he said. “He has a big passion for football and he always made sure that I accompanied him at every match he had been to, and the training sessions as well. He always had the dream and loved to see me as a footballer.
“We would play in the hot weather for more than 10 hours sometimes. That is very normal in Egypt. I was the same as any Egyptian kid because we all have a very strong passion for football. We would head straight to the football grounds as soon as we left the classroom.
“My parents played a big role in creating this passion in me towards football and they encouraged me to play football. It is really nice and important to have such encouraging parents, I am really grateful to them.
“My mother, she would accompany me in every club I went to. Since I was born my parents wanted to see me as a footballer and they are behind this passion I have for football. I sensed their support at home. It’s really nice to see that they love your job or the job you love to do, and that really helped me a lot.”
It would appear that his parents have done an excellent job! He is the very first Egyptian footballer to join Arsenal, and he is very happy to be an ambassador for his country. “Every player would be so proud to play for Arsenal, if they were Egyptian or not Egyptian,” he ontinued. “Being the first Egyptian player to play for Arsenal is a great honour and that makes me very happy.
“I am very keen to work hard in the Premier League – that’s for my own reputation and Egypt’s reputation, and to show everyone that Egyptian players are capable of playing very well in the Premier League.”
Most of the Egypt national side is made up of players from the top two local teams, Zamalek and Al-Ahly, and Elneny will give them hope that one day they too can come away and play for a great club like Arsenal…
Make them proud Mohamed!