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Omar Marmoush was a key man in Egypt's comeback win over Zimbabwe as he looks to play his way back into Manchester City selection
Omar Marmoush is fighting a losing battle to be the star man in his team. At Manchester City he has to compete with the best striker in the world in Erling Haaland and when he goes off to represent his national side there is the towering presence of Mohamed Salah.
It was Salah who got the headlines on Monday night with an injury-time winner as Egypt came back from a goal down in their opening game of the Africa Cup of Nations to spare themselves an embarrassing result against Zimbabwe. Salah faces an uncertain future with his club after recently telling reporters he was being thrown under the bus by an unknown figure, and this tournament is a welcome relief where he can star among fans who adore him.
There is pressure though. Egypt are once again one of the favourites to go all the way but have struggled to live up to expectations and have not won the competition since they won three consecutive titles between 2006 and 2010, so Salah carries the weight of a passionate nation with ambitions of being the best.
Marmoush is not immune to that heat though, and his January move to City from the Bundesliga catapulted his profile to amplify the noise around him. Scoring the Premier League goal of the season in the May win over Bournemouth only added to this in what was a remarkably prolific year for him.
This season though, it just hasn't happened at the Etihad. Haaland has been in outstanding form, Jeremy Doku and Phil Foden have raised their game and Tijjani Reijnders and Rayan Cherki have settled quickly. Marmoush featured in a ropey start for the team and was then injured while City found their feet and a winning style.
Egypt wanted Marmoush to join their squad early in December but City pushed back, releasing him on the day only that FIFA said they had to. In that time, he was used for zero minutes against Fulham, 27 against Sunderland, 26 against Real Madrid and nine against Palace.
It is to his credit then that he scored the crucial goal that got Egypt level in the game, scoring in the 64th minute with a nice goal that showcased his talents as a forward. It is also striking that the only game in the last 10 for City where he got as long as 64 minutes was the Leverkusen shambles, where Guardiola admitted he got his team all wrong.
Marmoush has had only one game for the Blues this season where he has started and finished, and that was the League Cup win at Swansea at the end of October. He got the goal that put City ahead in that game too, so his longest appearance was also his most effective.
That isn't to necessarily say that he should have been used more by Guardiola, because when he has played he hasn't really done enough to force his way back into the team. City's manager has a lot of trust in his starting players, and wants a number of important contributions off the bench before somebody changes that.
With Egypt though, Marmoush looks like he has the opportunity to show what he can do on a big stage when he is backed with minutes. Monday was a promising start, and if the 26-year-old can build on that he will be returning to Manchester with more to show Guardiola.
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