The award for the best African player was held recently and Senegal captain and Liverpool skipper Sadio Mane was named the best player for the 2019 calendar year by beating is fellow club man Salah for the award but aside from the best player award, CAF also released the name of eleven players that has performed tremendously during the calendar year for their respective club and the list was such a strong one with 6 players from the English Premier League making up the list. 2019 was a great year for Africa players as many of them made some great impact for their club side. Sadio Mane and Salah were both vital in the Liverpool team as both players helped the club to champions league victory over Tottenham alongside Matip who also made the Aftican best XI. The list released by CAF has shown reason why the EPL was regarded as the most represented league and most competitive league in the whole world. Sadio Mane,Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Serge Aurier, Riyad Mahrez, Joel Matip and Mohamed Salah are players from the EPL who made up the list with Ajax goal keeper Onana, Hakimi, Gueye, Koulibaly, Ziyech all completing the list.
Aside from the fact that these players represented their country well in 2019, they also did Africa proud in the English Premier League starting with Arsenal striker Aubameyang who was part of the 3 players that shared the Golden Boot last season alongside Salah and Mane in the EPL league. Aubameyang scored 22 goals last season and also helped Arsenal to the final of the Europa league and this season, he has picked his scoring form again lying second in the race for the Golden Boot award again. Moving away from Aubameyang is Tottenham right back Aurier who has featured in almost all of Tottenham matches this season, he was also part of the team that reaches the final of the Champions league last season with an assist for his club against Dortmund and this season, he has recorded three assists for Tottenham.
Riyad Mahrez had a wonderful season with Manchester City last season winning three major trophy with the club which include the EPL, FA cup and the EFL cup and aside from that, he also guided his country Algeria to an Africa Nations Cup victory back in July with three goals to his name and his strike against Nigeria in the semi final was voted as the best goal of the year. Another EPL player on the list is Liverpool defender Joel Matip who won the UEFA champions league with the club last season and play in almost all of Liverpool games including the 4-0 victory over Barcelona.
The remaining 2 players from the league is Salah and the winner of the best player Award Sadio Mane who recorded massive success in 2019 with both club and country, the two Liverpool men won the champions league with their club with Salah converting a penalty against Tottenham in the final while Mane also scored twice against Chelsea in the Super Cup. Both players also shared the Golden Boot award in the league last season with Arsenal man. Sadio Mane this season has helped Liverpool with his 22 goals and 6 assist while Salah has also scored 14 goals in all competition for the club.
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