The BBC awarded on Friday Egypt footballer and Liverpool star Mohamed Salah the Best Player in Africa award for 2018 for the second year in a row.
Salah is the first Arab player who garnered the BBC Best African Player award for two years in a row, and the second African player to garner the award for two consecutive years after Nigerian Jay-Jay Okocha in 2003 and 2004. He is the third Egyptian football player to garner the award after Mohamed Barakat in 2005 and Mohamed Aboutrika in 2008.
Players who contested along with Salah for the award included Senegalese football defender Koulibaly who plays for Napoli and the Senegal national football team, French-Moroccan footballer Medhi Amine El Mouttaqi Benatia who plays for Italy’s Juventus and the Morocco national team, Senegalese professional footballer Sadio Mané who plays for Premier League club Liverpool and the Senegal national team, and Ghanaian footballer Thomas Partey who plays for Spanish club Atletico Madrid and the Ghana national team.
Salah is contesting for the African Football Confederation (CAF) award for the best player of the year 2018, which will be announced on January 8 in the Senegalese capital Dakar. Salah garnered the same award in 2017.
Salah won the Golden Boot award as well as the Premier League Player of the Season title after an unforgettable debut season with Liverpool.
Salah also finished third in the 2018 European Footballer of the Year list by the European Football Federation (UEFA).
Known as the “Egyptian King”, he won the Football Supporters’ Federation’s (FSF) Men’s Player of the Year award for 2018 on December 4. Salah was also announced the winner of a fan’s poll that attracted over 366,000 votes during a December 3 ceremony in London, Liverpool reported on its official website.
Salah topped a six-man shortlist that also included his teammate Virgil van Dijk, Manchester City duo Sergio Aguero and Raheem Sterling, Eden Hazard of Chelsea, and Leicester City’s Harry Maguire.
Photo credit: Mohamed Salah Facebook page.
