Onyango out, Salah heads trio for African player of the year
What you need to know:
- Netball. The Uganda Cranes captain will not win a first African Footballer of the Year award in 2018, with Aubameyang, Salah and Mane in the running.
Cairo: Forwards Mohammad Salah, Sadio Mane and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang have again made the shortlist for the Confederation of African Football (CAF) player of the year award, the second year running the trio have battled it out for the prestigious prize.
Egyptian striker Salah claimed the honour last year and will be favourite again, hoping to become the fourth player to win back-to-back titles after Senegal forward El Hadji Diouf, Cameroon striker Samuel Eto’o and Ivory Coast midfielder Yaya Toure.
Liverpool teammate Mane from Senegal has been getting closer to the prize after finishing third in the voting in 2016 and second last year.
Gabon forward Aubameyang made the final three for the fifth time in succession, equalling the record set by Toure and former Ghana international midfielder Michael Essien.
His only victory came in 2015 when he beat Toure and Ghanaian Andre Ayew to the prize. Uganda Cranes captain Denis Masinde Onyango, the last winner of the African Player of the Year –based in Africa, dropped from the list but will be able to make the team of the year after being the only goalkeeper named in the penultimate ten-man list.
Onyango had an incredible 2018 for both club and country. Onyango, who has conceded just three goals in eight Absa Premiership appearances this season with Mamelodi Sundowns, ended the year with the league title, taking on FC Barcelona and helping Uganda qualify for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations without conceding a goal.
The Caf award is voted for by the national team coaches and captains of CAF’s 56 member associations and the winner for 2018 will be announced in Dakar, Senegal, on January 8.
