Listen to the article
Super Eagles and Napoli striker, Victor Osimhen, will battle Mohamed Salah of Egypt and Morocco’s Achraf Hakimi for the 2023 CAF Men’s Player of the Year award, Completesports.com reports.
The final three shortlist was announced by CAF on their X handle.
Osimhen is hoping to become the first Nigerian since Nwankwo Kanu in 1999 to win the award.
On Monday in Milan, the 24-year-old was named the Italian Footballers’ Association (AIC) Player of the Year for the 2022/23 Serie A season.
Salah has been a recipient of the award after winning it twice in 2017 and 2018.
Also Read: Iwobi Gets Highest Rating In Fulham’s 5-0 Win Against Forest
For Hakimi, he will become the first Moroccan to win the award after Mustapha Hadji in 1998.
Other Nigerians who made the final shortlist in their different categories include Asisat Oshoala, Deborah Abiodun and Chiamaka Nnadozie.
Oshoala is in the running to defend her Women’s Player of the Year award as she is in the three-player shortlist with Barbara Banda of Zambia and Thembi Kgatlana of South Africa.
Nnadozie is in contention for Goalkeeper of the Year while Abiodun made the final nominee for Women’s Young Player of the Year award.
Earlier CAF shortlisted Nigeria for the 2023 Women’s National Team of the Year alongside Morocco and South Africa.
The winners will be announced on Monday, 11 December in Marrakech, Morocco.
18 Comments
Now,I can go to rest, Osimhen has won it. All the bla bla bla about World Cup, I thought only Moroccans would make the top 3.
Hakimi is a strong contender!Won the league with elite club PSG coupled with a fantastic world cup tournament.Osimhen wasn’t at the last world cup was denied by eternal rivals Ghana.
He has a great chance!!
Of course he has a chance, that’s why he made the top 3, but even at the World. Cup, El Nesyri and Bono had better statsn.African Footballer of the year so not all about being a squad member, You have to contribute IMMENSELY to that squad. That’s the point Osimhen has as edge over all his fellow contenders, He was KEY to;
1) Napoli winning the Serie A, 26 goals
2) Nigeria qualification For Afcon , 10 goals.
Can anyone here give us Hakimi’s numbers, For both Morocco and PSG for the year under review as a right back??
1) How many successful crosses
2) How many assists?
3) How many tackles won, ?
4) How many interceptions??
These are the parameters to evaluate a right back, let us see how Hakimi fared.
It’s not by saying,”He was in Moroccan squad”, ” He was in PSG squad” . What were his stats, ????
You can’t dismiss Hakimi’s performance because you’re desperate for Osimhen to win the award.
Let the best from the three listed win it I like fairness.
I didn’t write in my previous post Hakimi will definitely win the award,rather,I meant he’s a very strong contender.Should he win it,i won’t be surprised because he did well for both PSG and Morocco respectively in the past season.
The truth is that the way has been paved easily for osimhen and Morrocans would feel robbed……just the way Nigerians will feel robbed if a Nigerian player won the Europa league back to back, won the best GK in the là liga for 2 straight season, and gets to the semifinal of the WC for Africa for the first time in 100years and yet does not make the top 3….the internet would have been on fire by now.
I can imagine if it was Nigeria that got to the semifinals of the WC for the first time for Nigeria.
But we should also remember that Nigeria only has 5 votes (Peserio, Ahmed Musa, Rivers united coach and captain, and the only nigerian in the caf media committee) and will need the rest of black Africa’s votes for osimhen to emerge, cos its a given that all arab votes will go to Hakimi (and unfortunately they have almost 3 to 4 clubs each playing on the continent and more representation in CAF committees than Nigeria)
if it is about fairness Osi will win because strikers are mostly favoured . politicking might however play a major role . the polarity between French Speaking countries and English will play a major role in choosing the winner.
Now I’m hopeful, for sure salah is out and VO has advantage been striker against hakimi.
Awesome piece of news.
With the ommision if Bono and El Nesyri, the coast is now clear for the first Nigerian AFOTY in over 2 decades.
None of Hakimi or Salah did as much as to rival Osimhen in the year under perspective.
Congrats to Victor in advance.
I tell you, when they are 10 my hope was like 40%, I said I will wait till they reduce it to the last 3, only God know who screen them to this last 3, salah shd not have even made the last 5 for me.
Congratulations oshimen. Congratulations Nigeria.
The venue determines the winner. I think the venue is in Morocco. It will be given to Hakim,mark my word.
I don’t know why I have this sneaky feeling that agrees with you. Osimhen should have it, but Motsepe is CAF President. That man is an unscrupulous businessman and politician with a fake friendly smile.
As for the Women’s Awards, Motsepe is going to dash everything to his country, except the young player award, which should go to Abiodun.
But you see women’s footballer of the year, women’s coach of the year, and team of the year, forget it. It’s going to be Motsepe’s early Christmas gift to South Africa.
Has “Motsepe’s country” not earned it…?
Did they not win the AWCON…?
Did they not win the Women’s champions league back to back…?
Did they not reach R16 of world cup…?
Did their GK not emerge best gk at both afcon and women champions league.
Did Kgatlana not contribute about 6 goals at the world cup…?
Are all these not enough for South Africa to clean sweep all the Women’s awards, with or without motsepe…?
Or where were your own teams when SA were churning out these performances…?
Where were your our businessmen when motsepe was submitting his interest to contest for caf presidency…?
Stop being jealous and appreciate the hardword of others. Nigeria does not own African football.
Bro, from the stats the best female player should go to Zambia”s Barbara Banda and not Ngathlana, she scored more than 40 goals in the Chinese League, and was also very imrpessive at the World Cup
Do you feel Oshoala deserve to even be at the top 3? Same way I felt salah shd not be at the top 3 at the men category is the same way oshoala didn’t deserve top 3 nominee, patriotism aside, I won’t even vote her .
Congratulations to Victor Osimhen in advanced. Deservedly so.
No how he is losing this one.
It is a battle between osimhen and Hakimi.I think Osimhen might just nick it ahead of Hakimi patriotism apart .
AFOTY is an individual award base on your contribution to the team and not merely you been in a team that did well.The case of Mikel Obi and Yaya Toure comes to mind.Toure had a stand out season as the highest Goal scorer in England I think whilst Mikel was part of the team that won the champions league.But toure won it
Hakimi was part of PSG team that won the french league, what was his stand out contribution to the win? Same with the Moroccan team to the world cup.
Yes Dr.Drey is right, no defender or goalkeeper wins it in a year when you have a striker with a break out season.Except they want to shift the goal post and that would not surprise me