Super Eagles forward, Victor Osimhen and Super Falcons striker, Asisat Oshoala and Deborah Abiodun have been named in the CAF Player of the Year final three-man list for the men, women and young categories.
Osimhen was instrumental to Napoli’s success last season, as the club won Serie A for the first time in 33 years. Osimhen also won the Golden Boot, scoring 26 goals and becoming the highest-scoring African in the league. He was also named the best striker in the league.
Also up for the prestigious award are Morocco and Paris Saint-Germain defender Achraf Hakimi and Egypt and Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah.
Oshoala, who is the reigning Africa women’s player of the year, scored 21 goals in just 28 games to lead FC Barcelona to the 2022/23 Spanish League title and was the Spanish club’s top scorer with 27 goals in all competitions. The 28-year-old was instrumental as Barcelona retained their domestic title and won the UEFA Women’s Champions League.
At the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, 5-time record African Player of the Year award winner Oshoala made history as the first Nigerian and first female African player to score at three different editions of the FIFA World Cup. She has now scored 31 goals and won the Women’s African Cup of Nations three times with the Super Falcons.
Meanwhile, in the CAF Young Player of the Year (WOMEN) award – Final 3, Super Falcons midfielder Abiodun is up for award along with Comfort Yeboah of Ghana and Morocco’s Nesryne El Chad.
Nigeria’s Super Falcons, who had the best outing at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup among the African teams, are in the running for National Team of the Year (Women) with Morocco and South Africa, who also impressed at the global tournament.
However, Randy Waldrum, who led the Super Falcons to the World Cup, has been cut from the Coach of the Year (Women) nominations, leaving Reynald Pedro of Morocco, Desiree Ellis of South Africa and Jerry Tshabalala of Mamelodi Sundowns.
Shifting the focus to other categories, the Coach of the Year (Men) race features Senegal’s Aliou Cisse, Morocco’s Walid Regragui, and Algerian coach Abdelhak Benchika of USM Alger.
Meanwhile, Al Ahly, Wydad, and Mamelodi Sundowns are in contention for the Club of the Year (Men) title, while AS FAR, Sporting Casablanca and Mamelodi Sundowns vie for Club of the Year (Women).
The Awards Gala will take place on Monday, 11 December 2023, at the Palais des Congrès, Movenpick, Marrakech, Morocco at 19H00 local time (18H00 GMT).
Sportsbeep 