Ghana and Atletico Madrid midfielder, Thomas Partey, failed to make the final shortlist for the 2018 CAF Player of the Year Awards.
The shortlist was released by CAF on Friday after voting was done by members of the Confederation’s Technical & Development Committee.
Partey was part of the initial 34-man shortlist put out by CAF in November this year after very good performances for Atletico Madrid and the Black Stars.
Despite Ghana’s failure to make the 2018 World Cup in Russia, he stood out from the team as one of its best players. In addition, he helped Atletico Madrid win the Europa League and the UEFA Super Cup.
CAF’s final shortlist has the likes of Arsenal’s Alex Iwobi, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang of Gabon, Egypt’s Mohammed Salah and Sadio Mane of Senegal among others.
The winner will be determined after a final voting phase where CAF Media Experts, Legends, Coaches of the quarter-finalists of the CAF Champions League and CAF Confederation Cup, and Coaches & Captains of the 54 Member Associations will put in votes.
Below is the final shortlist:
African Player of the Year
1. Alex Iwobi (Nigeria & Arsenal)
2. Andre Onana (Cameroon & Ajax)
3. Anis Badri (Tunisia & Esperance)
4. Denis Onyango (Uganda & Mamelodi Sundowns)
5. Mehdi Benatia (Morocco & Juventus)
6. Mohamed Salah (Egypt & Liverpool)
7. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Gabon & Arsenal)
8. Riyad Mahrez (Algeria & Manchester City)
9. Sadio Mane (Senegal & Liverpool)
10. Walid Soliman (Egypt & Ahly)
Female footballers make the cut
Although Partey will not be in contention for the top men’s award, his female counterparts in Mukarama Abdulai and Elizabeth Addo were shortlisted for the Women’s Player of the Year award.
Abdulai emerged Top Scorer and 3rd Best Player at the FIFA Women’s U17 World Cup in Uruguay as the Black Maidens were knocked out at the quarter final stage.
Addo was part of the Black Queens team in the 2018 Total AWCON but the team failed to make it out of the group stage.
However, she made it to the All-Star team of the tournament.
They will seek to dislodge the reigning Player of the Year, Asisat Oshoala of Nigeria, who helped her country to win the Total AWCON in Ghana.
Below is the final shortlist:
Women’s Player of the Year
- Abdulai Mukarama (Ghana & Northern Ladies)
- Asisat Oshoala (Nigeria & Dilian Quanjian)
- Bassira Toure (Mali & AS Mande)
- Chrestinah Thembi Kgatlana (South Africa & Houston Dash)
- Elizabeth Addo (Ghana & Seattle Reign)
- Francisca Ordega (Nigeria & Washington Spirit)
- Gabrielle Aboudi Onguene (Cameroon & CSKA Moskow)
- Janine Van Wyk (South Africa & Houston Dash)
- Onome Ebi (Nigeria & Hekan Huisanhang)
- Raissa Feudjio (Cameroon & Aland United)
- Tabitha Chawinga (Malawi & Jiangsu Suning)
The shortlists for the Best Coach and Best Young Player were also named by CAF. The next CAF Awards will be held in Senegal on January 8.
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By: Nathan Quao/citinewsroom.com/Ghana