With his striking looks, and infectious smile, Oumar Ben Salah was easily recognized anywhere he plays. This is a midfielder who never shielded away from the grand occasions during his short playing career.
A tireless central midfielder, Salah was the king of all what he surveyed. He was one of the stars who lighted up the Senegal 92 African Cup of Nations which incidentally became his last tournament as he chose to retire from the national team at the age of 29.
Salah with his number 8 jersey was an embodiment of skills, flair, incisive passes and pure vision. He was a player Yeo Martial the Ivorian coach at Senegal 92 tagged as his midfield commander.
Born on July 2, 1964 in Abidjan to an Ivorian mother from Kpouèbo and a French father with Algerian descent, Salah did not have it easy growing up as a footballer because of his mulatto features. At a time where mixed-race children were few in Ivory Coast, the stigmatization alone was too much as people thought it was impossible for a child like that to make it in football.
He was often shy away but as determined as he was, he finally had his breakthrough when he joined Stade Abidjan in 1983 at the age of 19. Starting from the reserves, Salah worked his way out into the main team.
His exploits at Stade Abidjan earned him a place in Ivory Coast 1983 Under 20 squad which participated in the World Youth Championship in Mexico. Though the Young Elephants finished last in Group B which also comprised of Uruguay, Poland and US, Salah’s talent was glare for everyone to see as he was the best player in the Ivorian side.
After three years with Stade Abidjan, Salah joined then French third-tier side FC Sete 34 where he netted nine goals in 49 appearances from 1986 to 1989.
Avignon came calling with a fee around 100,000 Euros equivalent and Sete had to make their priceless asset go. He became the kingpin of René Exbrayat’s team scoring eight goals from midfield before Christian Letard who was thrilled by his exploits brought him to Le Mans in 1991.
With eight goals in his first season at Le Mans, Salah was the most sought-after Ivorian player in Europe. Despite interest from Les Blues, the extravagant midfielder was bent on representing the nation of his birth. He therefore whole heartedly welcome a call from Yeo Martial to be part of his team prior to the 92 African Cup of Nations.
Ivory Coast already had Abdoulaye Traore and Joel Tielhi in attack and needed an intelligent mercurial midfielder to compliment their efforts and Salah was the right person.
In Ivory Coast first game against Algeria, Oumar Ben Salah set up Abdoulaye Traore’s goal in the 3-0 win but could not complete the match as he was replaced in the 43rd minute by Nagueu Lignon due to injury.
Salah returned for the second game against Congo and was the man of the match though the Elephants recorded a goalless draw to book their quarter finals stage. He again showed class in the quarter finals with Ivory Coast beating Zambia 1-0 after 120 minutes to win the game.
The midfield marshal was once again in his elements and was instrumental as Ivory Coast beat Cameroon in penalty shootout in the semi finals. Salah could not complete the game as the injury he sustained in the first game was aggravated.
Salah missed the finals through injury as Ivory Coast defeated Ghana 11-10 on penalties to be crowned African champions.
Hopes were high for Salah as the world were willing to see him two years later in Tunisia but the talented midfielder left everybody in shock when he announced in 1993 that he had retired from international football.
Perhaps, Salah had gotten what he needed which was winning the African Cup of Nations with Ivory Coast. At club level, despite netting 17 goals in 51 appearances from 1991 to 1994 for Le Mans, he decided to hang his boot and retire from football at the age of 30.
Since retiring from football, Salah has lived in France with his wife and children all this while but returned home to Abidjan in 2017 when he was appointed a member of the technical team of his former club Stade Abidjan.
African football lovers and the world as a whole look back at the fleeting career of Oumar Ben Sallah with sadness. He was pure gold in midfield who could decide the outcome of games on his own.
Forget about Yaya Toure, in terms of pure talent, Oumar Ben Salah is the most naturally gifted midfielder to ever wear the Ivorian national team jersey. Though he chose to quit after just one tournament, his name will always be mentioned when it comes to Senegal 92.
Credit: Edmund Okai Gyimah for Fallaboweh.com (Sweden)
