Mo Salah hails work of Egyptian sculptor who made statue of him

On Wednesday, the Egyptian sculptor behind the widely criticized Mohamed Salah statue said the footballer called her to express his support. 

In a post uploaded on her personal Facebook page, Mai Abdallah said that during the phone call, the star hailed her work and shared words of encouragement. 

"I am so happy! Our international star and national hero Mohamed Salah called me personally. He encouraged me, saying: 'you're a great artist, I checked out your page, saw your work, and was so impressed by it," she wrote. 

Abdallah also added that the football player asked her to work on another sculpture of him, saying he'll display it in his house.

The statue, which aimed to honor Salah, was revealed on Sunday as part of Egypt's annual World Youth Forum. 

However, the effigy ended up leaving many people confused and unimpressed.

Just hours after it was unveiled, images of the figure started circulating online and were heavily criticized by millions who felt it looked absolutely nothing like the football star. 

While many hailed Salah for calling Abdallah amid all the backlash, some couldn't even with the news. 

Here's a little of what the footballer's fans had to say on the matter:

"What he did is beautiful. We truly need to enhance all that's positive in order to avoid the negative in the future. I also support the creative artist Mai Abdallah." 

"This shows how kind and down to earth he is." 

"We can't keep quiet over this lie." 

"Why????"

"There's no resemblance between Salah and the statue."