The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has pruned the list of
candidates vying for the 2019 African Player of the Year, according to
a release made public by the continent’s football governing body on
Wednesday, December 4.
A breakdown of the latest 10-man shortlist revealed that Leicester
City’s Wilfred Ndidi and Lille’s Victor Osimhen are no more in
contention for the prize, leaving AFCON 2019 topscorer Odion Ighalo as
the only Nigerian left for POTY award.
On the other hand, Barcelona’s Asisat Oshoala is listed among five
players competing for the Women’s version of the award and she will
battle Ajara Nchout (Cameroon & Valerenga), Gabrielle Onguene
(Cameroon & CSKA Moscow), Tabitha Chawinga (Malawi & Jiangsu Suning)
and Thembi Kgatlana (South Africa & Beijing Phoenix FC).
Osimhen will take solace in the fact that he is still in contention
for the Youth Player of the Year along with four other candidates
namely Villarreal’s Samuel Chukwueze, Achraf Hakimi (Morocco &
Borussia Dortmund), Krépin Diatta (Senegal & Club Brugge) and Moussa
Djenepo (Mali & Southampton).
Equally, in the Men’s Coach of the Year, Eagles boss Gernot Rohr is
missing, while ex-Super Falcons manager Thomas Dennerby will square up
against four other coaches for the Women’s Coach of the Year.
The Eagles and Falcons remain in contention for the Men’s National
Team of the Year and Women’s National Team of the Year respectively.
