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Six Goals. Two Assists. Top of the Table. Mohammed Balah is off to a flying start for Arab Contractors in the second tier of the Egyptian League.
That Mohammed Balah is scoring goals is nothing new. The 31 year old has been doing that for the better part of the decade.
His journey over the past year, tells the story of hope and resilience. Mere months ago Balah was like millions of other Gazans living in a tent under the threat of bombardment.
It seemed that his career along with the careers of hundreds of other footballers in Gaza was over. If anything, football was far down the list of priorities being able to stay alive and keep his family alive was far more important.
Balah never really gave up on his career though. He watched the 2023 Asian Cup from afar when electricity and internet connectivity issues permitted. His close friend, Mahmoud Wadi, was on the team, a team he felt he could have made if not for the outbreak of the war
Seven years ago Gaza’s two best forwards embarked on a journey after finishing first and second in goals scored from open play for the 2016/17 season.
The Rafah crossing along with other crossings into the Gaza Strip had been closed for the better part of a year. In fact one of the forwards, Mahmoud Wadi, had been on the books of Ahli Al-Khaleel to start the year but was not allowed to travel back to Hebron with his club after the Palestine Super Cup.
As a result, Mahmoud Wadi spent a year with Ittihad Khan Younes. He was widely tipped to win the golden boot, break into the national team, and move abroad. Two of the three happened. Wadi did not win the award for top scorer (that went to Suleiman Obaid who scored seven penalties en route to a 15 goal season), nor did he score the most goals from open play. Mohammed Balah netted 11 times Wadi 10 (with two penalties).
The two forwards would follow the same path in their first forays abroad. Balah and Wadi signed for Ahli Amman for the 2017/18 season. In October 2017 both players would make their debut in Jenin against Maldives coming off the bench as Palestine romped to an 8-1 victory.
Following a successful first season with Al-Ahli the forwards parted ways. Wadi went to Egypt. Balah stayed in Jordan for half season before going on to make a name for himself in the Omani top flight.
He scored ten goals in ten games for Al-Oruba and would score another ten league goals for Saham and Suwaiq before COVID-19 forced the league to shutdown in 2020.
Mohammed Balah was back in Gaza in 2021 scoring goals for Al-Sadaqa. At the close of the season he moved to Al-Masry in Egypt but his time there was blighted by cruciate ligament injury suffered after just six appearances for the Port Said club.
When Balah did recover he went back to where he knew he could best showcase his talents- Al-Sadaqa. The goals were flowing again and all seemed well until that fateful day in October changed the reality of over two million people in Gaza.
As recently as April of this year it seemed that Balah’s career was over. The 31-year old was displaced alongside his family no less than six times.
“Much like all other Palestinians trapped in this war, I spend long hours without food and clean drinking water. My physical fitness has taken a blow. I have lost weight. Far from playing a game, I haven’t even kicked a ball in months. Football is my passion. It’s also my source of income. I have lost everything.” Balah told Al-Jazeera earlier this year.
Balah did not give up on his dream of returning to the pitch. He eventually found a way out to Egypt, had surgery to repair his toe, and then rehabbed to get back into shape. Arab Contractors who had been relegated from the Premier League took a punt on him and he duly rewarded their faith in his abilities.
Balah scored a brace on his debut and he has not looked back since. Six goals and two assists in 12 starts is enough to make Balah the leading scorer of the team. Arab Contractors are flying at the moment with only a single loss in 14 games, nine wins, and a four point lead at the top of the table.
The forward’s return to prominence so soon after experiencing genocide, ethnic cleansing, and professional and financial ruin is a symbol of hope to his countrymen. If the second half of the season goes as well as the first, Balah could find himself back in the Egyptian topflight and back in the national team.
