The Antioquian coach was a key player in improving the effectiveness of the Egyptian, who is furor in the Premier League and the european soccer

Mohamed Salah has scored 31 goals this season of the English League with Liverpool. The Egyptian striker is the sensation in the English team and is fighting against Lionel Messi to take the title of top scorer in the year in the European leagues. In addition, he competes with Cristiano Ronaldo to win the Champions League.

Leer en español: Jaime Pabón: el colombiano que ayudó a Mohamed Salah a mejorar su técnica en las canchas

Few would have imagined that until a couple of years ago the Egyptian striker did not have a good definition on the court. However, this changed when Jaime Pabón, a trainer originally from Medellín, Colombia, trained with Salah from the end of 2016 until the end of the 2017 season. After that the Egyptian became the main figure of Liverpool.

In an interview with Blu Radio, Pabón said he met Salah in Rome at the end of 2015 when he was contacted by the player's agent, who asked him to help the striker improve his technique. He also noted that the soccer player has an innate talent, but his technique was not the most appropriate. This is because Salah made unnecessary runs through the court and did not face the ball in the most appropriate way. "I told Salah that he had to create his own style," said the Antioquian in an interview with El País.

The Colombian won Mohamed's confidence due to his great career. In addition to having been a professional soccer player for more than 10 years, Pabón has been technical director of several clubs and has participated in international sporting events such as the 1995 South American Cup and the Open World Soccer held in Tokyo, Japan in the same year. .

During the training, Pabón helped the Egyptian to improve the distances and the way he ran to look for a space in the area, to improve his breathing and to locate the exact point to kick the ball. Evidently, these techniques polished Salah's performance and since then it have been reflected in the score. Undoubtedly, the individualized training offered by the Colombian gave Salah the bases to improve his performance and perfect his talent.

The Liverpool striker who today may be the only player to win a Golden Ball in the era of Messi and Ronaldo was born in Nagrig, a town located in the northeast of Egypt. Salah started in a fairly modest club in his country's league. However, his actions led Basel to sign him in 2012, year in which he began his career internationally. Later he was hired by Chelsea of ​​England, where he failed to convince the coach of that time, José Mourinho. Later he was transferred to Fiorentina as part of payment by Juan Guillermo Cuadrado, then shone in Rome and finally came to Liverpool last year.

The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA, for its acronym in French) said that since its debut at the London 2012 Olympic Games, Salah has accumulated 23 international matches with a balance of 16 goals and is currently the best scorer in Europe just below Cristiano Ronaldo. In addition, according to the newspaper El Universal the striker was chosen the best African soccer player in 2017 by the Confédération Africaine de Football (CAF, for its acronym in French).

The "Pharaoh", as he is also known, has scored 41 goals in 46 matches. In addition, he has participated in major sporting events such as the 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup and the 2017 African Cup of Nations, in which his performance served as a catapult to qualify for the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia.

Latin American Post | Mariana Castellanos

Translated from "Jaime Pabón: el colombiano que ayudó a Mohamed Salah a mejorar su técnica en las canchas"