The Confederation of African Football (CAF) on Sunday, October 11 revealed a 37-man shortlist from which the 2015 African Best footballer will be selected.
African Best Player of the Year Award, undoubtedly the most precious individual award in Africa is based on achievements within a year. That is, from November 2014 to November 2015 and it encompasses performance at both club and national team level.
The shortlist will be reduced from 37 to 10 in November but before the African football governing body comes out with its ten man nominees next month, www.sports24gh.com has bet on the following players to make the grade;
10. Faouzi Ghoulam (Algeria), Napoli – The Algerian defender has been very impressive for his club and was the toast of many coaches around Europe during the transfer period but his side kept faith in him. His performance for the Desert Foxes is also worth mentioning.
09. Riyadh Mahrez (Algeria), Leicester City – The Algerian attacking midfielder has been outstanding for the premiership side. He is highly regarded as one of the future stars of African football.
08. Sadio Mane (Senegal), Southampton – The Senegalese striker who plays in the premiership for Southampton is not only strong but a prolific goalscorer as well.
07. Christian Atsu (Ghana), Bournemouth – The Black Stars’ winger was crowned the overall best player at the AFCON 2015 for his text book performance throughout the tournament, scoring the most beautiful goal of the tournament, but sadly enough, the Ghanaian youngster is not getting enough playing time at club level due to a protracted injury.
06. Yacine Brahimi (Algeria), FC Porto – The Algerian midfield metronomic has been delightful to watch for his club FC Porto and the Portuguese champions’ chances of advancing in the UEFA Champions League is on the shoulders of Brahimi.
05. Pierre-Emerick François Aubameyang (Gabon), Dortmund – Famously known in Gabon as ‘Neymar,’ the Gabonese striker has been in the form of his life since moving to German side Dortmund.
04. Mehdi Benatia (Morocco), Bayern Munich – The Moroccan has added a lot of steam and stability to Pep Guardiola’s defence. He made headlines when he scored in Bayern Munich vs. Barcelona Champions League semi final match.
03. Andre Ayew (Ghana), Swansea City – Son of the legend Abedi Pele, Andre Ayew keep improving year in, year out. He was part of the reason why the Black Stars made it to the finals of the 2015 AFCON which Ghana lost on penalty shoots out to Ivory Coast. He’s been phenomenal since his move from Marseille to Swansea City, where he has scored four goals already.
02. Yaya Toure (Ivory Coast), Manchester City - Though leading the Elephant to win the 2015 African Cup of Nations (AFCON), Manchester City’s Yaya Toure will surrender the throne to Cameroon’s Stephane Mbia. Toure’s performance at the AFCON was not the best and his performance at City was also not at it apex.
01. Stephane Mbia Etoundi (Cameroon), Trabzonspor – The Cameroonian won the UEFA Europa League trophy back-to-back with Sevilla and got selected to the 18-man ‘Team of the Year.’ Currently with Turkish side, Trabzonspor, the midfield scrapper is the reason behind the Los Rojiblancos’ success in the Europa.
Follow Amisty on twitter @ElAmistyNobo
www.sports24gh.com
Accra floods: 70 seized excavators to be deployed to NADMO for desilting — Munta...
Kasseh Market executives stop sale of food near toilet facility
Three arrested over theft of critical equipment at Komenda Sugar Factory
Nearly half of Ghanaians say military rule can be justified if governments fail ...
GWL resumes production at Barekese Water Treatment Plant after completion of rep...
Economic performance most powerful source of Mahama’s goodwill — IEA
Nyinahini SHS assault: Court strikes out case, urges reconciliation
Even traffic lights in front of police headquarters are being stolen — Roads Min...
One major cause of Ablekuma North rerun violence was lack of security coordinati...
BTU Council divided as Chairman rejects parliamentary mediation in VC dispute
