By Harry Awurumibe, Head Abuja Bureau
Hope rises for a Nigerian player to return home next year with the Confederation of African Football (CAF) Best Player Award as three Nigerian players have made the final list of the three nominees in their categories.
Three-time winner of the CAF Women’s Player of the Year, Asisat Lamina Oshoala has made the top three list of contenders for the 2019 Women’s Player of the Year award.
The Super Falcons star who plays her club football with FC Barcelona women’s football team will have Cameroon’s Ajara Nchout of FC Valerenga and
last year’s winner of the award, Thembi Kgatlana of South Africa and Beijing Phoenix FC player.
For the CAF Youth Player of the Year category, Lille Metropol FC striker, Victor Osimhen and his compatriot Samuel Chukwueze of Villarreal as well as Achraf Hakimi of Morocco and Borussia Dortmund made the cut.
The final list which was published on CAF’s website was trimmed down by votes from a CAF Technical & Development Committee and a panel of media experts with an emphasis on the nominees’ performance during the year under review, 2019.
CAF Nominated Ndidi, Ighalo, Chiamaka Nnadozie, Uchenna Kanu and Gernort Rohr For 2019 Mens Footballer Awards
The trio of Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Riyad Mahrez who ply their trade in the English Premier League, made the list for African Player of the Year category.
The ceremony is billed for January 7, 2020, at the Albatros Citadel Sahl Hasheesh,
Hurghada, in Egypt.
Meanwhile, CAF had nominated four other Nigerian players namely Wilfred Ndidi of Leicester FC of England; Ex- Super Eagles star Odion Jude Ighalo who plays in China; Rivers Angels goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozie and USA- based player, Uchenna Kanu as well as Super Eagles gaffer, Gernort Rohr for other categories of the awards but they have failed to make the cut.
See the full list of the three nominees each below:
African Player of the Year
Mohamed Salah (Egypt & Liverpool)
Riyad Mahrez (Algeria & Manchester City)
Sadio Mane (Senegal & Liverpool)
African Women’s Player of the Year
Ajara Nchout (Cameroon & Valerenga)
Asisat Oshoala (Nigeria & Barcelona)
Thembi Kgatlana (South Africa & Beijing Phoenix FC)
African Interclubs Player of the Year
Anice Badri (Tunisia & Esperance)
Tarek Hamed (Egypt & Zamalek)
Youcef Belaïli (Algeria & Esperance / Ahli Jeddah)
African Youth Player of the Year
Achraf Hakimi (Morocco & Borussia Dortmund)
Samuel Chukwueze (Nigeria & Villarreal)
Victor Osimhen (Nigeria & Lille)
African Men’s Coach of the Year
Aliou Cisse (Senegal – Senegal)
Djamel Belmadi (Algeria – Algeria)
Moïne Chaâbani (Tunisia – Esperance)
African Women’s Coach of the Year
Alain Djeumfa (Cameroon)
Desiree Ellis (South Africa)
Thomas Dennerby (Nigeria)
African Men’s National Team of the Year
Algeria
Madagascar
Senegal
African Women’s National Team of the Year
Cameroon
Nigeria
South Africa
