Super Eagles’ attacker, Victor Osimhen top the list of only two Nigerians that made the cut for the Confederation of African Football (CAF) Footballers’ Awards Men’s category holding next month in Morocco.
CAF made a 100 list including players, coaches and teams for honours with only the Napoli striker, Osimhen and Gent hitman, Gift Orban in the mix as the Awards Gala holds 11th December in Marrakech.
The continental soccer governing body also nominated seven Moroccans including Achraf Hakimi, Yassine Bonou, Hakim Ziyech, Sofyan Amrabat, Youssef En-Nesyri and Yahya Jabrane on the 30-man short list for the prestigious continental award.
As expected Mohammed Salah (Egypt and Liverpool) and Sadio Mane (Senegal and Al Nassr), Thomas Partey (Ghana and Arsenal) and Mohammed Kudus (Ghana and West Ham) also made the list.
Osimhen , who is among the favourites to unseat current holder, Sadio Mane, has been selected after an extraordinary last season for Napoli in which he helped the Partenopei to the first Serie A title since 1989-90 with 26 goals from 32 league games.
While Orban is in the running for the CAF Young Player of Year Award after a brilliant 2022-23 season in which he netted 15 goals from 16 games in the Belgian Pro League and five goals from six games in the UEFA Europa League.
For the first time, CAF has introduced the CAF African Goalkeeper of the Year Category (Men and Women) in the prestigious event that seeks to reward and celebrate exceptional Players, Officials and Administrators during the period under review.
The Super Eagles who qualified with most goals for the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations did not make the shortlist of 10 in the National Team category while the country did not get nomination at all in the Coach of the Year, Inter Club Player of the Year and the Goalkeeper of the Year categories.
The nominees for the Women’s categories will be announced in due course.
The ultimate winner of each category will be decided after votes from a voting panel consisting of CAF Technical Committee, media professionals, Head Coaches & Captains of Member Associations and clubs involved in the group stages of the Interclub competitions.
Senegal forward Mane was last crowned CAF African Player of the Year while Nigeria’s Asisat Oshoala bagged the CAF African Women’s Player of the Year for a record fifth time during the last Awards Gala in July 2022 in Rabat, Morocco.
PLAYER OF THE YEAR (MEN)
Ramy Bensebaini (Algeria and Borussia Dortmund)
Riyad Mahrez (Algeria and Al Ahli)
Edmond Tapsoba (Burkina Faso and Bayer Leverkusen)
Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa (Cameroon and SSC Napoli)
Vincent Aboubacar (Cameroon and Besiktas)
Ibrahima Sangare (Cote d’Ivoire and Nottingham Forest)
Seko Fofana (Cote d’Ivoire and Al Nassr)
Chancel Mbemba (DR Congo and Olympique Marseille)
Fiston Mayele (DR Congo and Pyramids)
Mahmoud Abdel Moneim “Kahraba” (Egypt and Ahly)
Mohamed Abdelmonem (Egypt and Al Ahly)
Mohamed ElShenawy (Egypt and Al Ahly)
Mohamed Salah (Egypt and Liverpool)
Mohammed Kudus (Ghana and West Ham United)
Thomas Partey (Ghana and Arsenal)
Serhou Guirassy (Guinea and VfB Stuttgart)
Yves Bissouma (Mali and Tottenham Hotspur)
Achraf Hakimi (Morocco and Paris Saint-Germain)
Azzedine Ounahi (Morocco and Olympique Marseille)
Hakim Ziyech (Morocco and Galatasaray)
Sofyan Amrabat (Morocco and Manchester United)
Yahya Jabrane (Morocco and Wydad Athletic Club)
Yassine Bounou (Morocco and Al Hilal)
Youssef En-Nesyri (Morocco and Sevilla)
Peter Shalulile (Namibia and Mamelodi Sundowns)
VICTOR OSIMHEN (NIGERIA AND SSC NAPOLI)
Sadio Mane (Senegal and Al Nassr)
Pape Matar Sarr (Senegal and Tottenham Hotspur)
Percy Tau (South Africa and Al Ahly)
Mohamed Ali Ben Romdhane (Tunisia and Ferencvaros)
YOUNG PLAYER OF THE YEAR (MEN)
Dango Ouattara (Burkina Faso and Bournemouth)
Souleymane Alio (Burkina Faso and New Stars)
Ernest Nuamah (Ghana & Olympique Lyonnais)
Abdessamad Ezzalzouli (Morocco and Betis)
Bilal El Khannous (Morocco and Genk)
GIFT ORBAN (NIGERIA AND KAA GENT)
Lamine Camara (Senegal and Generation Foot/Metz)
Pape Amadou Diallo (Senegal and Generation Foot/Metz)
Pape Demba Diop (Senegal and Zulte Waregem)
Amara Diouf (Senegal and Generation Foot)
Credit: thenationonlineng.net
