MENA Sports Wrap: Mo Salah helps Liverpool win historic Premier League title

Liverpool football star Mohamed Salah made history last weekend after scoring against Tottenham, becoming the Premier League's highest-ever foreign scorer, with 185 goals. Salah's goal on Sunday came during a 5-1 win over the North London club, which clinched Liverpool's Premier League title this season ahead of Arsenal.

The AFC Champions League final will feature a Saudi team, Al-Ahli, who comfortably beat Al-Hilal 3-1 in the semi-final. Al-Nassr, captained by Cristiano Ronaldo, were unlucky against Japan's Kawasaki Frontale in the other semi-final.

Meanwhile, Egyptian American football player Ahmed Hassanein is set to make history as the first from his country to play in the NFL.

Mohamed Salah becomes Premier League's top foreign scorer

Mohamed Salah has become the Premier League's all-time top-scoring foreign player after netting his 185th goal in Liverpool's 5-1 win over Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday, surpassing Manchester City great Sergio Agüero.

The goal helped Liverpool clinch their 20th English top-flight title, and Salah celebrated by taking a selfie with a fan in the stadium's famous Kop end, drawing loud chants of "Mo Salah" from the crowd.

"To win the Premier League here with the fans is special - it's an incredible feeling," Salah said. "This is way better than five years ago, without a shadow of a doubt. To do it again is something special."

Salah had equaled Agüero's record in Liverpool’s 3-1 victory over Southampton on March 8, scoring twice to help his side come from behind.

The Egyptian forward joined Liverpool from AS Roma in 2017 and has since become a club legend. Though he scored his first two Premier League goals with Chelsea in 2014, nearly all of his tally has come with Liverpool. He signed a two-year contract extension earlier this month.

Sunday's goal was Salah's 28th in the Premier League this season and his 33rd in all competitions. It also marked his 46th goal contribution in the league this term - just one shy of the all-time record shared by Andy Cole and Alan Shearer.

Salah now ranks fifth on the Premier League’s all-time scoring list, behind Cole (187), Wayne Rooney (208), Harry Kane (213), and Alan Shearer (260).

Saudi Arabia's Al-Ahli book place in AFC Champions League final, Al-Nassr miss out

The AFC Champions League final will feature at least one Saudi team after Al-Ahli beat Al-Hilal 3-1 in the semi-final on Tuesday.

The Jeddah-based club outshined their Riyadh rivals and began their campaign for the final early on in the game, after Roberto Firmino scored in the 9th minute following an impressive pass from fellow Brazilian Galeno.

England international Ivan Toney netted the second goal after former Manchester City star Riyadh Mahrez slipped a pass to the left side of the area. Toney chipped the ball over goalkeeper Yassine Bounou into an empty net.

Salem Al-Dawsari managed to half the deficit by netting Al-Hilal’s first goal of the game three minutes before the break.

A scrappy second half saw Al-Hilal down to 10 men after Senegal's Kalidou Koulibaly was sent off. Al-Ahli were unable to comfortably extend their lead after Franck Kaissie failed to convert a penalty-kick, awarded following a challenge on Mahrez.

However, during added time, Feras al-Buraikan sealed the deal for Al-Ahli by scoring their third goal of the game.

Al-Ahli will now play in their third AFC Champions League final, though they have never won the competition.

Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr failed to get past Kawasaki Frontale during Wednesday’s semifinal, after the Japanese outfit proved too strong despite the Riyadh-based team's superstar line-up.

The Japanese team impressed early on after Tatsuya Ito scored arguably one of the best goals of the tournament with a 10th minute volley.

Sadio Mane, formerly of Liverpool and Bayern Munich, manager to equalise for the Saudi team, but Kawasaki took the lead again minutes before the break after Ito’s goal attempt rebounded off striker Yuto Ozeki.

Akihiro Ienaga’s 76th minute goal more or less booked Kawasaki’s place in the final, although an 87th minute brace from Ayman Yahya revived some of Al-Nassr’s hopes for a comeback. However, this proved too late after the referee blew the final whistle.

Al-Ahli will now face Kawasaki on Saturday at the King Abdullah Sports City Stadium in Jeddah.

American football player makes history as first Egyptian in NFL draft

Ahmed Hassanein is set to become the first Egyptian to be chosen for American football’s NFL draft.

The 22-year-old could be the first from his country to take to the field in the NFL after the Detroit Lions selected the Egyptian in the sixth round with the 196th overall pick.

US-born Hassanein had no knowledge of the sport or the English language prior to when he moved back to the US aged-15, after spending most of his childhood in Egypt.

In southern California, his football coach half-brother in 2018 convinced him to try the sport.

Thanks to the support of his brother and coaches at Loara High School and Boise State University, Hassanein has moved up the ranks in a relatively short period.

Hassanein racked up 24 sacks with the Boise State Broncos – his college team, most of which came after he took over the starting edge rusher job as a junior.

With the Broncos, Hassanein spent years making a name on the field before having his breakout season in 2023, and was named one of the team's captains at the start of the 2024 season.

Boise head coach Spencer Danielson says he’s the best edge rusher he has seen emerge from the Mountain West Conference in a long time.

"I haven’t even reached anything on my top ceiling," Hassanein told CNN. "I'm just ready to grow, ready to learn and ready to help the team whatever they need, because they believed in me, and whoever believes in me, that means the world to me, especially [head coach] Dan Campbell."