AFRICA will crown its best soccer player tomorrow, but the electors have a tough choice in deciding between the three candidates for 2017 African Footballer of the Year.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, of Borussia Dortmund and Gabon, goes up against Liverpool’s Senegalese Sadio Mane and Egyptian Mohamed Salah, with none of the final three candidates having a defining achievement over the past 12 months to set them apart.
The winner will be announced at the annual Confederation of African Football awards being held in Accra, Ghana.
Aubameyang, 2015’s African Footballer of the Year and runner-up in the last poll to Riyad Mahrez, finished as top scorer in the Bundesliga last season and continued his form in front of goal into the new campaign.
He also scored the winner in the German Cup final in May but that is hardly likely to resonate with the voters – Africa’s national team coaches and captains, plus a selected panel of journalists.
Aubameyang, 28, made little impression at the African Nations Cup finals in his home country at the start of last year, and then missed most of Gabon’s unsuccessful World Cup qualifying campaign.
Mane and Salah helped Senegal and Egypt qualify for the World Cup after lengthy absences and have emerged as leading players this season in the English Premier League.
Salah, 25, was a major catalyst in Egypt’s reaching the Nations Cup final in Libreville in February, where they lost narrowly to Cameroon, and has scored regularly for Liverpool after his record transfer for an African footballer in the close season.
Mane, also 25, is looking to become only the second Senegalese to win the award after El Hadji Diouf, African Footballer of the Year for 2001 and 2002.
The only Egyptian winner was Mahmoud al Khatib in 1983, while French-born Aubameyang is the only player from Gabon to have won the award. –
Full list of African Footballer of the Year award winners:
1970: Salif Keita (St Etienne, France, Mali). 1971: Ibrahim Sunday (Asante Kotoko, Ghana). 1972: Cherif Souleymane (Hafia, Guinea). 1973: Tshimen Bwanga (TP Mazembe, Englebert, Zaire), 1974: Paul Moukila (CARA Brazzaville, Congo). 1975: Ahmed Faras (Mohammedia, Morocco). 1976: Roger Milla (Canon Yaounde, Cameroon). 1977: Tarak Dhiab (Esperance, Tunisia). 1978: Karim Abdoul Razak (Asante Kotoko, Ghana). 1979: Thomas Nkono (Canon Yaounde, Cameroon). 1980: Jean Manga Onguene (Canon Yaounde, Cameroon). 1981: Lakhdar Belloumi (GCR Mascara, Algeria). 1982: Thomas Nkono (Espanyol, Spain, Cameroon). 1983: Mahmoud al Khatib (Al Ahli, Egypt). 1984: Theophile Abega (Toulouse, France, Cameroon). 1985: Mohamed Timoumi (Royal Armed Forces, Morocco). 1986: Badou Ezaki (Real Mallorca, Spain, Morocco). 1987: Rabah Madjer (FC Porto, Portugal, Algeria). 1988: Kalusha Bwalya (Cercle Bruges, Belgium, Zambia). 1989: George Weah (Monaco, France, Liberia). 1990: Roger Milla (St Denis, Reunion, Cameroon). 1991: Abedi Pele Ayew (Olympique Marseille, France, Ghana). 1992: Abedi Pele Ayew (Olympique Marseille, France, Ghana). 1993: Abedi Pele Ayew (Olympique Lyonnaise, France, Ghana). 1994: George Weah (Paris St Germain, France, Liberia) & Emmanuel Amunike (Sporting Lisbon, Portugal, Nigeria). 1995: George Weah (AC Milan, Italy, Liberia). 1996: Nwankwo Kanu (Inter Milan, Italy, Nigeria). 1997: Victor Ikpeba (Monaco, France, Nigeria). 1998: Mustapha Hadji (Deportivo La Coruna, Spain, Morocco). 1999: Nwankwo Kanu (Arsenal, England, Nigeria). 2000: Patrick Mboma (Parma, Italy, Cameroon). 2001: El Hadji Diouf (Rennes, France, Senegal). 2002: El Hadji Diouf (Liverpool, England, Senegal). 2003: Samuel Eto’o (Real Mallorca, Spain, Cameroon). 2004: Samuel Eto’o (Barcelona, Spain, Cameroon). 2005: Samuel Eto’o (Barcelona, Spain, Cameroon). 2006: Didier Drogba (Chelsea, England, Ivory Coast). 2007: Frederic Kanoute (Sevilla, Spain, Mali). 2008: Emmanuel Adebayor (Arsenal, England, Togo). 2009: Didier Drogba (Chelsea, England, Ivory Coast). 2010: Samuel Eto’o (Inter Milan, Italy, Cameroon). 2011: Yaya Toure (Manchester City, England, Ivory Coast). 2012: Yaya Toure (Manchester City, England, Ivory Coast). 2013: Yaya Toure (Manchester City, England, Ivory Coast). 2014: Yaya Toure (Manchester City, England, Ivory Coast). 2015: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Borussia Dortmund, Germany, Gabon). 2016: Riyad Mahrez (Leicester City, England, Algeria).
Note: The award was organised by soccer magazine France Football until 1994. The Confederation of African Football then instituted a new award.
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