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“If
Riyadh Mahrez was given the award on the strength of his performance for
Leicester City last season when they won the league, Moses should win it for
same reason as well.
|
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) yesterday listed
two Super Eagles players, Victor Moses and William Troost-Ekong among 30
players for the prestigious Footballer of the Year award.
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Last
year's winner Riyad Mahrez is missing from the Confederation of African
Football's list for 2017
|
Another Nigerian, Junior
Ajayi, who plays for Al Ahly of Egypt, was nominated for the Home-based best
player award.
Moses’ second major
silverware since winning the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations with the Super Eagles
in South Africa came last year, when he played for full 90 minutes for Chelsea,
who came from behind to whip Sunderland 5-1 to be crowned English Premier
League champions.
He celebrated the EPL
title at the Stamford Bridge with his wife and children. His dream of making it
a double victory in the FA Cup final was thwarted by Arsenal, who defeated
Chelsea 2-1 in the final.
On his part, William
Troost-Ekong, who plies his soccer trade with Bursaspor FC of Turkey helped the
U-23 Dream Team of Nigeria grabbed a silver medal at Rio 2016 Olympics Games.
Last year, he was nominated for the 2016 Defender of the Year award in the
Norwegian Tippeliga league. That was before he moved to Bursaspor FC of Turkey
The winner will be
decided by votes from the Head Coaches/Technical Directors of the National
Associations affiliated to CAF, members of the CAF Technical and Development
Committee and a panel of Media Experts.
The Awards Gala will be
held on Thursday, 4 January 2018 in Accra, Ghana. Nigerian energy giants,
Aiteo, are the headline sponsors of next year’s edition of the award.
Among other players
nominated by CAF for the African Player of the Year are Christian Atsu (Ghana
& Newcastle), Eric Bailly (Cote d’Ivoire & Manchester United), Mohamed
Salah (Egypt & Liverpool), Essam El Hadary (Egypt & Al Taawoun),
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Gabon & Borussia Dortmund), Sadio Mane (Senegal
& Liverpool) and Vincent Aboubakar (Cameroon & Porto).
In the African Player of
the Year – Based in Africa, Junior Ajayi, who play for Al Ahly of Egypt will
battle 29 others for the award.
Meanwhile, former Super
Eagles defender and Chelsea legend, Celestine Babayaro has backed Victor Moses
to win the prestigious award.
“Players like Pierre
Emerick Aubameyang didn’t have a very good season on a personal level unlike
Moses, who was ever present for Chelsea in their run up to the League title,”
Babayaro told Owngoalnigeria.com.
“If Riyadh Mahrez was
given the award on the strength of his performance for Leicester City last
season when they won the league, Moses should win it for same reason as well.
“Aside his performance
for Chelsea, he did very well for Nigeria and his contributions played a big
role in helping Nigeria clinch qualification for the World Cup ahead of every
other African nation,” he remarked.
Winner
Mahrez Absent From CAF's African Player Of 2017 List
BBC Africa Sport reports
that last year's winner Riyad Mahrez is missing from the Confederation of
African Football's list for 2017
The Confederation of
African Football has revealed its 30-man shortlists for the African Player of
the Year and Africa-Based Player of the Year.
Gabon's Pierre-Emerick
Aubameyang, who won in 2015, features along with a host of Europe-based stars,
such as Sadio Mane of Senegal who came third in 2016.
But 2016 winner Riyad Mahrez of
Algeria is a notable absentee from the main list.
He has largely failed to
produce the quality of football that he displayed last year when playing a key
role in driving Leicester to the Premier League's most unlikely title triumph.
Four players make both
the best Africa Player and best Africa-Based Player shortlists.
They are Tunisia's Ali
Maaloul (Al Ahly), South Africa's Percy Tau, Uganda goalkeeper Dennis Onyango
(both Mamelodi Sundowns) and Zambia's Fackson Kapumbu (Zesco United).
The respective winners
will be announced in the Ghanaian capital Accra on 4 January 2018.
Votes from a combination of head coaches and technical directors from national teams, as well as members of CAF's Technical and Development Committee and a panel of media experts will determine the winners.
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