Sadio Mane Beat Salah For African Player Of The Year Title

Senegalese  International, Sadio Mane beat his Liverpool teammate Mohammed Salah to be named the 2019 African Player of the Year.  The Caf Awards ceremony was held in Egypt on Tuesday night at the Albatros Citadel Sahl Hasheesh Resort in Hurghada, Egypt. The 27-year-old Liverpool star battled against the two-time winner Mohammed Salah and 2016 winner, Riyad Mahrez of Manchester City for the prestigious award.

The 28th edition of the CAF Awards celebrated African footballers and officials from the continent who distinguished themselves during 2019. The event was graced by some important personalities in the world football. Egyptian Minister of Sport Ashraf Sobhy was the special guest together with CAF president Ahmad Ahmad. 

Sadio Mane pulled a total of 477 votes with Mohammed Salah having 325 and Riyad Mahrez polling 267 votes. The Senegalese star,  won the Champions League with Liverpool , UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup, reached the Africa Cup of Nations final. He earned the Premier League Golden Boot and finished fourth in the run for the Ballon d’Or.

Super Falcons and Barcelona playmaker, Asisat Oshoala won the African Women’s Player of the Year. She beat  Cameroonian forward, Nchout Njoya Ajara and South African Thembi Kgatlana to win her fourth title. Youcef Belaïli of Algeria won the Interclub player of the year for his great performance in the CAF champions league for Esperance.

Djamel Belmadi,43-year-old Algerian football coach was  crowned Men’s Coach of the Year. He led the Fennecs to their second African Cup of Nations when they lifted the trophy in 2019.

List of Winners;

African Player of the Year

Sadio Mane (Senegal & Liverpool)

African Women’s Player of the Year

Asisat Oshoala (Nigeria & Barcelona)

African Interclubs Player of the Year

Youcef Belaïli (Algeria & Esperance / Ahli Jeddah)

African Youth Player of the Year

Achraf Hakimi (Morocco & Borussia Dortmund)

African Men’s Coach of the Year

Djamel Belmadi (Algeria – Algeria)

African Women’s Coach of the Year

Desiree Ellis (South Africa)

African Men’s National Team of the Year

Algeria

African Women’s National Team of the Year

Cameroon

Federation of the Year

Egyptian Football Association

Special Award

Kojovi Obilale (former Togolese goalkeeper)

CAF Fifpro Best XI

Goalkeeper: Andre Onana

Defenders: Achraf Hakimi, Serge Aurier, Joel Matip, Kalidou Koulibaly

Midfielders: Idrissa Gueye, Riyad Mahrez, Hakim Ziyech

Forwards: Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang 

Sadio Mane’s Career and Possible League Win with Liverpool