Super Falcons striker Asisat Oshoala and Senegalese Sadio Mane won big at 2022 Confederation of African Football’s awards ceremony in Rabat, Morocco on Thursday.
Oshoala won a record fifth African Women’s Player of the Year Award while Mane, the Bayern Munich forward picked up African Footballer of the Year award for a second time.
Oshoala, who plays club football for Barcelona, beat Grace Chanda (Zambia/BIIK Kazygurt) and Ajara Nchout Njoya (Cameroon/Inter Milan) to the award.
The win sees her overtake her compatriot Perpetual Nkwocha as the player with the most African Women’s Player of the Year Award.
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She was the only Nigerian nominee to make the 2022 CAF awards’ final shortlist.
Super Falcons’ coach Randy Waldrum was originally nominated for Coach of The Year but dropped from the final shortlist.
Asisat Oshola, Sadio Mane
The situation was similar for Super Eagles players Moses Simon and Akinkunmi Amoo.
Oshoala, 27, had equalled Nkwocha’s then record wins of four in 2019.
It is now clear of Nkwocha who starred for the Super Falcons from 1999 to 2015. The 46-year-old won her awards in 2004, 2005, 2010, 2011.
Oshoala previously won the award in 2014, 2016, 2017 and 2019.
She was forced to miss the ongoing Women’s Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco due to an injury.
However, Mane 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.
“I am really honoured and highly delighted to receive this award again,” Mane said.
“Thanks to my coaches, my club and national team colleagues and those friends who stood by me during difficult times.”
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.
He won ahead of former Liverpool teammate, Mohamed Salah from Egypt and fellow Senegal international and Chelsea goalkeeper Edouard Mendy.
Sadio Mane has become the 10th player to win the African Footballer of the Year award more than once.
Salah was the standout player in England’s Premier League last season, winning the Golden Boot with 23 goals and topping the assists chart with 13.
Mane led Senegal to glory at the Africa Cup of Nations in 2022 while Mendy also played a key role in Senegal’s success, as well as becoming a Club World Cup champion with Chelsea in February.
The 30-year-old is the first goalkeeper to make the top three in an African Footballer of the Year vote since 2014 when Vincent Enyeama came third.
Mane is the sixth player to have been named African Footballer of the Year on exactly two occasions. The others are Salah, Didier Drogba, Roger Milla, Nwankwo Kanu and El Hadji Diouf.
George Weah and Abedi Pele are both three-time winners, while Samuel Eto’o and Yaya Toure have won the award four times each.
