Senegal and Liverpool forward Sadio Mane was named as African Player of the Year at the Confederation of African Football (CAF) Awards 2019 held in Egypt’s Red Sea resort city of Hurghada on Tuesday.
Mane became the African Player of the Year, garnering 477 votes ahead of his Liverpool teammate Mohamed Salah of Egypt who got 325 votes and Algeria’s Riyad Mahrez who came third with 267 votes.
Neither Salah nor Mahrez were present at the ceremony. Mahrez was in action for Manchester City and scored in a 3-1 win away against Manchester United in the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final.
Mane netted 30 goals in all competitions last season helping Liverpool win the Champions League and finish as runners-up in the English Premier League. Mane was also instrumental as Senegal claimed the runners-up spot behind Algeria at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt.
“I’m really happy and proud to win this. Football is my job, I love it. I would like to thank my family, my national team, staff, the federation and Liverpool Football Club. It’s a big day for me,” Mane said.
Mane becomes the second Senegalese to win the award after former Liverpool forward El Hadji Diouf did so in 2002.
Mahrez won the award for African Goal of the Year with his stunning late free-kick in the AFCON semi-final against Nigeria.
In the Women’s category, Nigeria’s Asisat Oshoala, who plays for Barcelona, was named African Women’s Player of the Year for the fourth time, equalling the record of compatriot Perpetua Nkwocha.
Oshoala garnered 351 votes, 30 more than Cameroon’s Ajara Nchout and South Africa’s Thembi Kgatlana, who had 247 votes.
In the Interclub of the Year category, Algeria’s Youcef Belaili won the prize following his stellar performance in the CAF Champions League for champions Esperance, who won the title for a fourth time.
The Youth Player of the Year award went to Moroccan and Borussia Dortmund defender Achraf Hakimi. Djamel Belmadi, who coached Algeria to the 2019 AFCON title, and South African Desiree Ellis picked up the Coach of the Year award in the men’s and women’s categories respectively.
Algeria and South Africa also won the National Team of the Year awards in the men’s and women’s categories respectively.
