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FIFA Best Player of the Year: Sadio Mane is Africa’s brightest chance since George Weah

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Home AFCON

FIFA Best Player of the Year: Sadio Mane is Africa’s brightest chance since George Weah

Imhons Erons by Imhons Erons
1 year ago
in AFCON, EPL, Featured, News
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FIFA Best Player of the Year: Sadio Mane is Africa’s brightest chance since George Weah
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The Senegal international stands at the threshold of history as he aims to become the first footballer from the black continent to win the Balon D’or since the iconic Liberian.

Liverpool’s Sadio Mane could be the second Africa superstar to be named the World’s Best Player after he was shortlisted alongside nine other football stars with the winner expected to be declared at a glamorous gala night in September.

Three Liverpool players make the shortlist for #TheBest Men's Player ๐Ÿ”ด๐Ÿ‘

Sadio Mane ๐Ÿ”ฅ@MoSalah ๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‘‘@VirgilvDijk ๐Ÿ˜Ž pic.twitter.com/3xWMajEH3v

— Goal (@goal) July 31, 2019

FIFA also listed Mane’s club teammates Dutchman Virgil van Dijk and Egyptian Mohammed Salah along with Ajax’s Dutch duo of Mattijs de Ligt and Frenkie de Jong.

๐Ÿšจ Ready? ๐Ÿšจ#TheBest Men's Player nominees:

๐Ÿ‡ต๐Ÿ‡น@Cristiano
๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ฑ@DeJongFrenkie21
๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ฑ Matthijs de Ligt
๐Ÿ‡ง๐Ÿ‡ช@hazardeden10
๐Ÿด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ฅ๓ ฎ๓ ง๓ ฟ@HKane
๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ณ Sadio Mane
๐Ÿ‡ซ๐Ÿ‡ท@KMbappe
๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡ท Lionel Messi
๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ฌ@MoSalah
๐Ÿ‡ณ๐Ÿ‡ฑ@VirgilvDijk

Voting NOW OPEN ๐Ÿ‘‡https://t.co/nw6p9KIcc6

— FIFA.com (@FIFAcom) July 31, 2019

Also on the ten-man list are PSG’s forward Kylian Mbappe, Tottenham’s captain Harry Kane, former Chelsea playmaker Eden Hazard as well as the unstoppable duo of Juventus star Cristiano Ronaldo and Barcelonaโ€™s magician Lionel Messi.

Pretty much a who-is-who in world football at the moment.

Yet there is that feeling tugging at the conscience of many that an African โ€“ either of Mo Salah or Sadio Mane โ€“ may take the coveted prize back to the black continent for the first time in nearly 25 years.
It is increasingly looking more likely to be Sadio than Salah.

George Weah, often regarded as one of the greatest African players of all time, in 1995, was named FIFA World Player of the Year and won the Balon d’Or, becoming the first and to date only African player to win these awards.

The former Liberian international and current President of that West African country in his prime was known for his acceleration, speed, and dribbling ability, in addition to his goalscoring and finishing, attributes the Senegal forward have in common.

All sadio mane goals โšฝ๏ธ from 18/19 season same again 19/20 season sadio ynwa #LFC pic.twitter.com/u8LTinM5cz

— supermane10 (@supermanelfc) July 25, 2019

Unlike Weah, he may not have won the Africa Player of the Year awards just yet but he has featured at the World Cup finals and only recently won a silver medal at the Africa Cup of Nations.

Since 2013, the team that wins the UEFA Champions League has produced the Balon Dโ€™or winner. If that tradition continues, then Sadio already has an edge over his two Liverpool teammates.

Last season he was joint recipient – with Mo Salah – of the Premier League Golden Boot with 22 goals and then followed that up with a successful run to the final of the AFCON. Salah left that tournament earlier in the Round of 16.

Sadio Mane ๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ณ

โ€ข Won UEFA Champions League

โ€ข Joint top-scorer in Premier League

โ€ข Helped Senegal to CAF Africa Cup of Nations finalpic.twitter.com/iHzly3pEU2

— Football on BT Sport (@btsportfootball) July 31, 2019

Virgil van Dijk has had a phenomenal year and half and should amass a significant amount of votes but no defender since Fabio Cannavaro have come close to winning the award. And even the most expensive defender in the world may find that bridge too slippery to cross.

Especially when squared up against an attacker who joined Liverpool for a transfer fee that made him the most expensive African player in history at the time.

Ten of the last eleven Worldโ€™s Best Player awards have been shared equally between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Luka Modric broke that sequence last year after engineering Real Madridโ€™s third straight Champions League winners.
Sadio Mane, and indeed all of black Africa, would be delighted to see a repeat of such break in tradition.

Tags: George WeahMo SalahSadio ManeThe Best
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