Mane wins second African Player of the Year award

Mane wins second African Player of the Year award

Sadio Mane playing for Bayern Munich in a pre-season friendly against DC United
Sadio Mane playing for Bayern Munich in a pre-season friendly against DC United. Photo: Tim Nwachukwu / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/Getty Images via AFP
Source: AFP

New feature: Check out news exactly for YOU ➡️ find “Recommended for you” block and enjoy!

Sadio Mane was crowned African Player of the Year in Rabat on Thursday for the second time.

The Senegal forward first won the honour in 2019 while he was at Liverpool.

The 30-year-old left the Premier League club last month after signing a three-year deal with Bayern Munich.

Mane was in the Moroccan capital to receive the award after a dash across the Atlantic having converted a penalty for his new club in a 6-2 pre-season friendly win over DC United in Washington on Wednesday.

It was the second successive continental player of the year award for Mane after the coronavirus pandemic forced the cancellation of the last two editions of the annual celebration of African football.

He won ahead of former Liverpool teammate Mohamed Salah from Egypt and fellow Senegal international and Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy.

Read also

Mane and Salah renew rivalry with top African award up for grabs

PAY ATTENTION: Click “See First” under the “Following” tab to see YEN.com.gh News on your News Feed!

Mane and Salah played pivotal roles last season with Liverpool, who lifted the FA Cup and English League Cup and finished runners-up in the Premier League and Champions League.

Salah has since signed a new contract at Anfield while Mane opted for a move, with Bayern reportedly paying an initial 32 million euros ($32.5 million) that could rise to 41 million euros.

The transfer fee was a far cry from the four million euros Red Bull Salzburg paid Metz in 2012 when Mane made his first move in Europe.

Huge contribution

In February, Mane converted the decisive fifth penalty to give Senegal a 4-2 shootout victory over Egypt and a first Africa Cup of Nations title after the final ended 0-0 in Yaounde.

A month later, Mane was once again the shootout match-winner against Egypt, this time in a World Cup play-off near Dakar after a 1-1 aggregate stalemate.

Read also

Van der Dussen ton leads South Africa to 333-5 in Stokes's farewell ODI

Salah did not get a chance to take a penalty in the Cup of Nations decider while he blazed the first Egyptian kick wide in the play-off that secured a World Cup place in Qatar this November for Senegal.

Born in a village nearly 400 kilometres (250 miles) from Dakar, Mane attracted the attention of Metz having playing for local second-tier club Generation Foot.

After enhancing his reputation at Salzburg, Mane joined Southampton, where his feats included scoring a record-breaking 176-second Premier League hat-trick against Aston Villa.

In mid-2016 the Senegalese signed for Liverpool and went on to form a fearsome front three with Salah and Brazilian Roberto Firmino.

As Mane moved to Bayern, Liverpool manager said Jurgen Klopp said: "My only criticism of Sadio is that maybe at times he is the only one not to realise just how good he is."

Nigerian Asisat Oshoala won the Women's Player of the Year a record fifth time, overtaking compatriot Perpetua Nkwocha. Her previous successes came in 2014, 2016, 2017 and 2019.

Read also

Africa's fastest man Omanyala is on a sprint mission for Kenya

The 27-year-old Barcelona forward was forced to miss the ongoing Women's Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco due to an injury.

New feature: Check out news exactly for YOU ➡️ find "Recommended for you" block and enjoy!

Source: AFP

Authors:
AFP avatar

AFP AFP text, photo, graphic, audio or video material shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium. AFP news material may not be stored in whole or in part in a computer or otherwise except for personal and non-commercial use. AFP will not be held liable for any delays, inaccuracies, errors or omissions in any AFP news material or in transmission or delivery of all or any part thereof or for any damages whatsoever. As a newswire service, AFP does not obtain releases from subjects, individuals, groups or entities contained in its photographs, videos, graphics or quoted in its texts. Further, no clearance is obtained from the owners of any trademarks or copyrighted materials whose marks and materials are included in AFP material. Therefore you will be solely responsible for obtaining any and all necessary releases from whatever individuals and/or entities necessary for any uses of AFP material.