Who do you think deserves to be the African footballer of 2018?
Like previous years, the shortlist for this year’s BBC African Footballer of the year 2018 has finally been announced. The selection committee has chosen a five-player to shortlist for this year. The award is given to the best African Footballer of the year as per public voting, and it is done to promote the game of football in the African nations of the world. If you already bet on your favourite football games with a bet9ja promotion code, we are sure you have your favourite player ready at the back of your mind.
The nominees include Medhi Benatia from Morocco, Kalidou Koulibaly from Senegal, Sadio Mane from Senegal, Thomas Partey from Ghana and Mohamed Salah from Eygpt. The voting for this year’ s winner began on 17th November, Saturday at 19:00 GMT and closed on 2nd December at 20:00 GMT.
When Will We Know About the Winner?
The final results about this year’s winner will be declared in Focus on Africa on World News and World Service Radio on the 14th of December. The show starts at 17:30 GMT. This year’s shortlist had been voted on by a panel that comprised of African football experts after great debates.
Last year’s award had gone to Liverpool’s star forward Mohamed Salah, and the previous winner of the prestigious award had been Jay-Jay Okocha, Michael Essien, Didier Drogba, Yaya Toure, and Riyad Mahrez.
So, who are the toughest contenders of this year’s BBC African Footballer of the Year? We will break down the shortlist here for you!
Medhi Benetia (aged 31) who plays for Juventus as a center-back, and has won his fourth back-to-back league title in the year 2018. He has also been the captain of Morocco for the FIFA World Cup 2018 in Russia.
Kalidou Koulibaly (aged 27) who is a Napoli defender and had played a significant role for his club this year for the Series A title. He has also been present in the field for all 270 minutes of Senegal playing in this year’s world cup.
Sadio Mane (aged 26) who is Liverpool’s forward and has also been part of Senegal’s campaign in this year’s world cup. He has also captained the team in two matches and has scored in a game against Japan this world cup. He was also jointly the second top scorer for the Champion’s League this season which amounted to 10 goals.
Thomas Partey (aged 25) who plays as the midfielder of Atletico Madrid is a team regular for his side and has appeared as a substitute in the Europa League finals. He has also scored in friendly matches for Ghana against Iceland and Japan.
Mohamed Salah (aged 26) who won the Premier League Golden Boot with 32 goals in his kitty. He has also scored 10 goals in the Champion’s League for Liverpool. He has also scored twice in the World Cup for his country, Egypt.
With the competition for the award skyrocketing this year, it remains to be seen who emerges victorious at the very end of it!