Salah was first playing for a club 30 minutes away from his village; that soon became 90 minutes, and eventually a whopping four-and-a-half-hour journey, five days a week, just to get to training. He would spend just two hours at school, reaching training by 2pm. He had an official letter allowing him to do so. In essence, he had to sacrifice his education, but it was the cold-blooded drive to make it as a footballer that kept him going.
His daily routine consisted of school, walk, train, travel, eat, sleep, repeat. Considering the distance, it is no surprise that Salah had to switch between several buses just to get to training and back. But he had a dream and he had the belief. That provided him with the inspiration to get through the difficult times as a 14-year-old. It was only after his first-team debut that the belief started to materialise into something tangible.