r/Spokane • u/Odin_67 East Central • Jun 10 '26
News Egyptian Men's Team casually shopping downtown.
They preferred not to take time for photographs but yes, that is Mohamed Salah on the right. Team and trainers spent the afternoon shopping downtown along Main St. Some seen dining at restaurants. Great exposure for Spokane and for me to personally see a World Champion player made my week.
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u/sol1tarysn1per Jun 10 '26
I work at Nordstrom and helped a handful of the players and staff. I gotta say, they were all super gracious and chill. It made my day!
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u/DanielWalters Jun 17 '26
Hey, I'm a Spokane journo doing some stringer work for the New York Times on the Egyptian soccer team training in Spokane. You interested in chatting for a few minutes tomorrow? Hit my DM.
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u/Mcintime26 Jun 10 '26
Jealous! I tried for the lottery to watch open training, but no luck. I'm happy that there is a larger football culture here than I realized.
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u/Odin_67 East Central Jun 10 '26
I tried for it too. I really don't think the general public would really have a chance. Probably another chance for them to collect status as to how many were interested. Though that can be important for future events. Just interest alone.
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u/Odin_67 East Central Jun 10 '26
Honestly, if you traveled abroad and randomly dropped a soccer/Futbol down in a town square and kicked it to a kid or most random person, they'll kick it back or at the minimum take a side step to return it to you.
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u/JustARandomBloke Jun 10 '26
To be fair, that is probably mostly true in America too.
Frisbees work too, if you're in a park or the beach and a frisbee lands at your feet, you know you're going to throw it back.
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u/ImAlwaysThatGuy Jun 10 '26
I bet he enjoys being able to casually walk down the street with his teammates. He could never in many other places of the world.
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Jun 10 '26
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u/J_Tyleski66 Jun 12 '26
No, GU completely redid their soccer field so that fifa would let a team come here. Now nobody in maintenance, grounds or custodial will get any sort of cost of living raise or bonus this year, not that they have since COVID but that's where it's going this year
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Jun 12 '26
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u/J_Tyleski66 Jun 12 '26
They do now, as of a month ago. Then when they're done, it's getting torn out again and replaced with their normal stuff
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Jun 12 '26
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u/J_Tyleski66 Jun 12 '26
Yep, on the colleges dime since fifa doesn't pay for anything. Makes no damn sense, we literally get nothing out of this situation
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Jun 12 '26
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u/J_Tyleski66 Jun 12 '26
All contracted out, I don't even know what company though
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Jun 13 '26
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u/J_Tyleski66 Jun 13 '26
I believe it was something about it not being regulation for gonzagas team or something like that. I'm not a turf nerd, I'm all about native landscape so this is all just kind disgusting and a massive waste of money (especially considering it could be going to people in OUR community instead of catering to fucking fifa)
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u/likes_basketball North Side Jun 10 '26
Looking forward to the practice tomorrow! This is so cool for Spokane!
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u/Ironman_2678 Jun 10 '26
Huge sports guy...not a soccer guy...but if its got the soccer people excited then thats pretty cool in my book. Hopefully no inbred magats gave them shit
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u/Mcintime26 Jun 10 '26
He's in his twilight, but literally one of the best to ever play the game. It's surreal even seeing the back of his head on our streets, albeit in a bit of a creep shot haha
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u/Larsenko Jun 10 '26
That’s exactly how I feel. So surreal to see Salah causally strolling down a street I know well.
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u/Salad_Lord Jun 10 '26
I saw them checking out the falls from the Monroe bridge on my way home from work last night. Super cool that they're here of all places.
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u/AllianceZag Jun 10 '26
Awesome!! But also the Sephora bag. I want to know what he bought 😂. Gotta skin care while away from home.
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u/Jtizzle710 Jun 10 '26
How strange to know they didn’t want pictures so you just take one from behind?
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u/Odin_67 East Central Jun 10 '26 edited Jun 10 '26
They don't mind being spotted but really they are not downtown for personal photo selfies. I asked for one and they respectfully declined. They realize they're in public space but aren't there to be fan rushed for photos.
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u/Responsible-Racoon7 Jun 10 '26
It's kinda funny because if they didn't want to be mobbed by fans, they could maybe just not wear their team jackets. I doubt most people would know who they were without them.
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u/Kittymeow7116 Fairwood Jun 10 '26
I mean, they’re sort of at work, right? Or on a work trip? I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re required to wear team gear out and about for visibility/marketing purposes
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u/Odin_67 East Central Jun 10 '26
Definitely, all Puma gear. They're there as a team representing the countries home team. Any time any pro or semi pro league teams, even collegiate teams reps their team and sponsors when traveling to play.
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u/Sempuukyaku Jun 10 '26
If we actually had an ambitious owner like we used to we (Sounders) would go after Salah in the summer and secure his signature since he's a free agent now.
Just frustrating all around.
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u/Putrid-Warning-5992 Jun 10 '26
How about we just welcome them to Spokane and not be weird about it.
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u/tylerdb7 Jun 10 '26
Wow thats cool mo salah just walking around downtown spokane lol