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… Hakimi, Partey also threats
By Emma Jemegah
Napoli and Super Eagles striker Victor Osimhen will battle three former African Footballer of the Year winners, Sadio Mane of Senegal, Mohamed Salah of Egypt and Riyard Mahrez of Algeria and 27 others for this year’s award.
The 2023 CAF Awards Gala is scheduled for December 11, 2023 in Marrakech, Morocco.
Osimhen is the only Nigerian on the shortlist, which has seven Moroccans, four Egyptians, three Ivorians while Senegal, Algeria, Cameroon, DR Congo and Ghana have two nominees each.
Only on Monday, Osimhen became the highest ranked African at the 2023 Ballon d’Or, placing a respectable 8th position, almost becoming the second African to win the award after Liberia’s George Weah, who won the Ballon d’Or in 1995.
Apart from the Moroccans, who perhaps made the list because of their exploits at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and finished fourth, Osimhen should have little problem winning the award going by his performance in the Serie A for Napoli and the Super Eagles. He currently holds the record for the most goals scored by an African in a single season and also the 2023 AFCON qualifiers top scorer with 10 goals.
Aside from the Moroccans, other strong challengers for the 2023 CAF Footballer of the Year are Sadio Mane, who had won the award twice in 2019 and 2022. Mohamed Salah, who won the award in 2017 and 2018, and Algeria’s Riyad Mahrez, who last won it in 2016.
Osimhen is, however, the favourites alongside Liverpool and Egypt forward Mohamed Salah, Arsenal and Ghana midfielder, Thomas Partey, and PSG and Morocco defender Achraf Hakimi to pick up the continent’s best player award.
Should Osimhen clinch the prestigious CAF Player of the Year title, he would follow in the footsteps of Nigerian greats such as Nwankwo Kanu, Rashidi Yekini, Emmanuel Amunike, and Victor Ikpeba, who have previously claimed this esteemed accolade.
Interestingly, Osimhen could become the first Nigerian to win the award since Kanu was named the best player in 1999 – ending a 24-year wait for the three-time African champions.
Just as Osimhen is the only Nigeria listed for the top prize, KAA Gent’s Gift Orban is also the sole Nigerian in reckoning for the Young Player of the Year award dominated by the Senegalese with four nominations.
