Celebrated Egyptian soccer star Mohamed Salah, who plays for Liverpool Football Club in England, was last night named the African player of the year at an award ceremony held in Accra, Ghana.
He is the second Egyptian to win the coveted award after Mahmoud al Khatib, who was crowned the African king of football in 1983.
Salah, who has scored 23 goals for Liverpool this season, beat his Liverpool teammate from Senegal Sadio Mane and popular Gabon striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to emerge the top African soccer player.
“Winning this award is a dream come true. I want to dedicate this award to the kids in Egypt and Africa. I want to tell them that never stop dreaming,” Salah said in his acceptance speech.
The 25-year-old striker was quite instrumental in assisting the Egyptian national team the “Pharaohs” to qualify for the 2018 World Cup, after missing the mark for close to two decades.
Thursday’s ceremony was a momentous event for Egyptians after their national soccer team was named the National Team of the Year and their coach Hector Cuper won the Coach of the Year award.
Other award winners include:
Women’s Player of the Year: Asisat Oshoala (Nigeria)
Youth Player of the Year: Patson Daka (Zambia)
Football Leader of the Year: Ahmed Yahya (Mauritania)
Legends Award: Ibrahim Sunday (Ghana)
Women’s National Team of the Year: South Africa
Club of the Year: Wydad Casablanca (Morocco)
The annual awards gala is organized by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to honor soccer players and officials for their excellent performance in different sectors of the sport. The award is also aimed at improving the development of soccer in Africa.
