Salah, Mane lead list as CAF reveals player of the year nominees

Salah, Mane lead list as CAF reveals player of the year nominees

• Sadio Mane won the award in 2019
• CAF have not held the awards in two years
• Wydad, Ahly dominate Interclub nominees

Erstwhile Liverpool teammates Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane are the leading lights after the Confederation of African Football released the preliminary list of nominees for the CAF player of the Year Awards set to be staged next month.

Salah and Mane were both shining lights for club and country, but it was Mane, who has now completed a transfer to Bayern Munich in Germany, that had the most achievements with his country.

The 30-year old forward scored the winning penalty that secured the Lions of Teranga their first ever Africa Cup of Nations title as well as that which sent them to the FIFA World Cup, both coming against Salah’s Egypt.

Currently, Mane is the top scorer of the qualifiers for the 2023 AFCOn having scored four goals in two matches. For their clubs, Salah and Mane won the League Cup and FA Cup with Liverpool FC. Their Liverpool teammate Naby Keita who captains the Guinea national team has also been nominated.

Mahrez, Elneny nominated

Riyad Mahrez in action against Sierra Leone

Also nominated for the award is Algeria’s Riyad Mahrez who enjoyed more success with his club than his country. Algeria were eliminated in the group stages of the Africa Cup of Nations and missed out on qualification for the FIFA World Cup.

Other notable nominees for the men’s top award include Cameroon captain Vincent Aboubakar and Karl Toko Ekambi who both played a big role in the Indomitable Lions’ third place finish at the Cup of Nations and qualification to the World Cup.

Ivory Coast forward Sebastian Haller who enjoyed a stellar season with Ajax in the Eredivisie has also been shortlisted same as Arsenal’s Mohamed Elneny and PSG’s Morocan right back Achraf Hakimi.

In the men’s interclub player of the year category, Wydad Club Athletic who won the Champions League and Al Ahly who they beat in the final dominate the lost.

Seventeen year old Asec Mimosas forward Karim Konate who was a star scorer in the CAF Confederation Cup has also been shortlisted same as Petro de Luanda’s Tiago Azulao who finished as the Champions League top scorer.

Young player of the year

Konate is also shortlisted in the list for the young player of the year which also has Manchester United and Tunisia wonderkid Hanibal mejbri as well as former Barcelona defender who currently plays for Valencia Ilaix Moriba.

Senegal’s AFCON winning coach Alliou Cisse leads the shortlist for men’s coach of the year which also includes Wydad’s Walid Regragui who has won the Champions League and Botola Pro double in his first season in charge.

Amir Abdou, who led Comoros to a memorable run to the round of 16 at the AFCON has been shortlisted as well as Gambia’s Tom Saintfiet who led Gambia to the quarter finals in their debut at the tournament.

 Player of the Year (Men)

Sadio Mane in action

Riyad Mahrez (Algeria & Manchester City), Bertrand Traore (Burkina Faso & Aston Villa), Blati Toure (Burkina Faso & Pyramids), Edmund Tapsoba (Burkina Faso & Bayer Leverkusen), Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa (Cameroon & Napoli), Karl Toko Ekambi (Cameroon & Lyon), Vincent Aboubacar (Cameroon & Al Nassr), Youssouf M’Changama (Comoros & Guingamp), Franck Kessie (Cote d’Ivoire & AC Milan), Sebastien Haller (Cote d’Ivoire & Ajax), Mohamed Abdelmonem (Egypt & Al Ahly), Mohamed ElNeny (Egypt & Arsenal), Mohamed Salah (Egypt & Liverpool), Mohamed Shenawy (Egypt & Al Ahly), Musa Barrow (Gambia & Bologna), Naby Keita (Guinea & Liverpool), Aliou Dieng (Mali & Al Ahly), Hamari Traore (Mali & Rennes), Yves Bissouma (Mali & Tottenham Hotspur), Achraf Hakimi (Morocco & Paris Saint-Germain), Sofiane Boufal (Morocco & Angers), Yahya Jabrane (Morocco & Wydad Athletic Club), Yassine Bounou (Morocco & Sevilla), Moses Simon (Nigeria & Nantes), Edouard Mendy (Senegal & Chelsea), Kalidou Koulibaly (Senegal & Napoli), Nampalys Mendy (Senegal & Leicester City), Sadio Mane (Senegal & Bayern Munich), Saliou Ciss (Senegal & Nancy), Ali Maaloul (Tunisia & Al Ahly)

Interclub Player of the Year (Men)

Riad Benayad (ES Setif), Tiago Azulao (Petro Atletico), Karim Konate (ASEC Mimomas), Ali Maaloul (Al Ahly), Aliou Dieng (Al Ahly), Mohamed Shenawy (Al Ahly), Mohamed Sherif (Al Ahly), Percy Tau (Al Ahly), Morlaye Sylla (Horoya), Achraf Dari (Wydad Athletic Club), Yahya Jabrane (Wydad Athletic Club), Zouhair El Moutaraji (Wydad Athletic Club), Mouhcine Moutouali (Raja Club Athletic), Issoufou Dayo (RS Berkane), Youssou El Fahli (RS Berkane), Victorien Adebayor (Niger & Union Sportive Gendarmerie Nationale), Peter Shalulile (Mamelodi Sundowns), Bandile Shandu (Orlando Pirates), Thembinkosi Lorch (Orlando Pirates), Mohamed Ali Ben Romdhane (Esperance Sportive de Tunis)

Young Player of the Year (Men)

Dango Ouattara (Burkina Faso & Lorient), Karim Konate (Cote d’Ivoire & ASEC/RB Salzburg), Jesus Owono (Equatorial Guinea & Alaves), James Gomez (The Gambia & AC Horsens), Kamaldeen Sulemana (Ghana & Rennes), Ilaix Moriba Kourouma (Guinea & Valencia), El Bilal Toure (Mali & Reims), Akinkunmi Amoo (Nigeria & FC Copenhagen), Pape Matar Sarr (Senegal & Metz), Hannibal Mejbri (Tunisia & Manchester United)

Coach of the Year (Men)

Kamou Malo (Burkina Faso), Amir Abdou (Comoros), Carlos Quieroz (Egypt), Pitso Mosimane (Al Ahly), Tom Saintfiet (The Gambia), Florent Ibenge (RS Berkane), Vahid Halilhodzic (Morocco), Walid Regragui (Wydad Athletic Club), Aliou Cisse (Senegal), Mandla Ncikazi (Orlando Pirates),

National Team of the Year (Men)

Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Comoros, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, The Gambia, Mali, Morocco, Senegal, Tunisia

Club of the Year (Men)

ES Setif (Algeria), Petro Atletico (Angola), TP Mazembe (DR Congo), Al Ahly (Egypt), Ahli Tripoli (Libya), Al Ittihad (Libya), Raja Club Athletic (Morocco), RS Berkane (Morocco), Wydad Athletic Club (Morocco), Orlando Pirates (South Africa)