Al-Ittihad Newspaper – African Player of the Year Award: 15 Arabs Directed by Salah and Mahrez

Union

Riad Mehrez

CAIRO (Reuters) – The African Football Confederation (CAF) announced Friday the preliminary list of 34 candidates for the title of Player of the Year 2018, including 15 Arabs led respectively by Liverpool and Manchester City, the Egyptian Mohamed Salah and Algerian Riyad Mehrez, respectively.

He was crowned champion in 2016 and Salah in 2017 and will outscore rival Gabon striker Pierre-Emeric Obamyang, crowned in front of them in 2015, and his colleague Salah in Liverpool, Senegalese striker Sadio Maneh and the middle Guinean field Nabi Keita, defender of the Senegalese Calido Coulibaly. .

Salah won the award last year for his impressive performance in his first season in Liverpool after moving from Rome to Italy, helping to lead the team to the Champions League final before losing to the Real Madrid 1-3, and being the top scorer in the English Premier League with 32 goals.

The first list of candidates for the award included the names of Moroccans Ayoub Al Kaabi (Hibe Fortune China), Hakim Ziash (Ajax Amsterdam), Ismael Haddad (Wydad Casablanca), Mahadi Benatia (Juventus) and Tunisian Anis El Badri. Season at the expense of Al Ahly, who also cited the name of the player Walid Suleiman among the candidates.

The winners of this prize are Algerian Arab Abdelmoumin Gabou (ES Setif), Ybadine Brahmi (Porto), Youssef Blaile (Esperance Tunis), Tounsine Taha Ybadin Al-Khneissi (Esperance), Ahbi Al Khazri (Saint-Etienne). And the Moroccan Mahmoud Bhalib (Raja Casablanca).

The best player is chosen by a vote involving the members of the technical committee responsible for the development of the game in the Union, the media professionals, the legends of the game on the mainland and the coaches of the quarterfinals of the Champions League and the UEFA Cup, as well as the coaches and leaders of the 54 member countries of the Union.

The awards ceremony will take place on January 8 in Dakar.

The Moroccan names Ashraf Hakimi (Borussia Dortmund) and Benleib were among the six candidates for the Young Player of the Year Award, the Moroccan Rachid Taoussi, who oversees ES Setif, was the only Arab candidate for the best coach.

The Mauritanians, who qualified for the first time in their history, were named to the finals of the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations as the only Arab team among six candidates for the best team.