2023 CAF Player Award: Osimhen, Salah, Hakimi Make Final Three Shortlist


Super Eagles and Napoli striker, Victor Osimhen, will battle Mohamed Salah of Egypt and Morocco’s Achraf Hakimi for the 2023 CAF Men’s Player of the Year award, Completesports.com reports.




The final three shortlist was announced by CAF on their X handle.

Osimhen is hoping to become the first Nigerian since Nwankwo Kanu in 1999 to win the award.

On Monday in Milan, the 24-year-old was named the Italian Footballers’ Association (AIC) Player of the Year for the 2022/23 Serie A season.

Salah has been a recipient of the award after winning it twice in 2017 and 2018.


For Hakimi, he will become the first Moroccan to win the award after Mustapha Hadji in 1998.

Other Nigerians who made the final shortlist in their different categories include Asisat Oshoala, Deborah Abiodun and Chiamaka Nnadozie.

Oshoala is in the running to defend her Women’s Player of the Year award as she is in the three-player shortlist with Barbara Banda of Zambia and Thembi Kgatlana of South Africa.

Nnadozie is in contention for Goalkeeper of the Year while Abiodun made the final nominee for Women’s Young Player of the Year award.

Earlier CAF shortlisted Nigeria for the 2023 Women’s National Team of the Year alongside Morocco and South Africa.

The winners will be announced on Monday, 11 December in Marrakech, Morocco.


https://www.completesports.com/breaking-2023-caf-player-award-osimhen-salah-hakimi-make-final-three-shortlist/

Achraf Hakimi Mouh (Arabic: أشرف حكيمي موح; born 4 November 1998) is a professional footballer who plays as a right-back or right winger for Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain and the Morocco national team.

Achraf
Hakimi began playing for Real Madrid Castilla in 2016 and was promoted to the first-team in 2017. He was sent on a two-year loan deal to Bundesliga side Borussia Dortmund, winning the DFL-Supercup in 2019. He then signed with Serie A side Inter Milan for a reported fee of €40 million, helping the club win the 2020–21 Serie A title, their first in 11 years. Paris Saint-Germain then signed him in 2021 for a reported fee of €60 million.

Born in Spain to parents from Morocco, Hakimi was capped by Morocco at under-20 level, before making his senior international debut in 2016 aged 17. He was chosen in Morocco's squads for the FIFA World Cup in 2018 and 2022, and the Africa Cup of Nations in 2019 and 2021.

Mohamed Salah or Mo Salah, is an Egyptian professional footballer who plays as a right winger or forward for Premier League club Liverpool and captains the Egypt national team. Widely regarded as one of the best players of his generation and one of the greatest African players of all time, he is known for his clinical finishing, dribbling and speed.


Salah started his senior career in 2010 playing for Al Mokawloon, departing in 2012 to join Basel, where he won two Swiss Super League titles. In 2014, Salah joined Chelsea for a reported fee of £11 million, but limited gametime led to successive loans to Fiorentina and Roma, who later signed him permanently for €15 million. In the 2016–17 season, Salah was a key figure in Roma's unsuccessful title bid, reaching double figures in both goals and assists. In 2017, Salah signed for Liverpool for a then-club record transfer of £36.9 million. In his first season, he set the record for most Premier League goals scored (32) in a 38-game season and helped Liverpool to the 2018 UEFA Champions League Final. Having formed a formidable attacking trio with Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mané after the departure of Philippe Coutinho, Salah went on to be an integral player in the club's Champions League and Premier League title successes in the following two seasons, and has since also won the FA Cup, League Cup and FA Community Shield. Salah has achieved numerous individual accolades, including two PFA Players' Player of the Year awards, three Premier League Golden Boots, the Premier League Player of the Season, the Premier League Playmaker of the Season, finished third for the Best FIFA Men's Player in 2018 and 2021, and finished fifth in the 2019 and 2022 FIFA Ballon d'Or. He received the 2018 FIFA Puskás Award for his winning strike in the first Merseyside derby of the 2017–18 season. In 2023, Salah became Liverpool's top Premier League goalscorer, surpassing Robbie Fowler.

At international level, Salah represented Egypt at youth level before making his senior debut in 2011. Following his performances at the 2012 Summer Olympics, he was named CAF Most Promising African Talent of the Year. Since then, he finished as runner-up in the 2017 and 2021 Africa Cup of Nations and was top scorer during CAF qualification as Egypt qualified for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Salah was named CAF African Footballer of the Year (2017 and 2018), BBC African Footballer of the Year (2017 and 2018), and was selected in the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations Team of the Tournament, 2021 Africa Cup of Nations Team of the Tournament and the CAF Team of the Year on several occasions.

Salah is regarded as a symbol of national pride in Egypt for his achievements and was named in Time magazine’s list of the 100 most influential people in 2019. Salah has also been credited for raising the profile of Liverpool among Egyptians. To Egyptians, Salah is known as the "Fourth Pyramid". Favoured across the Arab world, Salah is often known as the "Pride of the Arabs".

Victor James Osimhen MFR

(born 29 December 1998) is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Serie A club Napoli and the Nigeria national team. Considered one of the best strikers in the world, as well as one of the best players in the world, he is known for his elite finishing, pace, strength and athleticism


Born in Nigeria, Osimhen began his senior career in Germany at VfL Wolfsburg in 2017. Following a season and a half at the club, he moved to Belgian side Charleroi on loan in 2018–19, before moving to France at Lille. He made his European football debut with the French club during the 2019–20 UEFA Champions League. In 2020, Osimhen transferred to Serie A club Napoli for a club-record fee of €70 million. He won the Serie A Best Young Player award in the 2021–22 season and, in the following season, helped the club win their first Serie A title in 33 years. He is the highest goalscoring African in the Serie A and currently holds the record for the most goals scored by an African in a single season.

Osimhen won the Golden Boot award at the 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup, which Nigeria won. He made his senior international debut in June 2017 and played at the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations. He is currently the fourth all-time highest goalscorer of the Nigeria national team. On 29 May 2023, Osimhen was made a Member of the Federal Republic by President Muhammadu Buhari.

He was ranked number 8 in the 2023 Ballon d'Or award which was held in Paris, France and became the first Nigerian to make the top ten of the Ballon d’Or.

lets see how they will rig this one

Of course na Osimhen

If Osimhen no win. The robbery will be too glaring... the statistics of his achievements speak for him. Good luck bro. You deserve it

It's been a while...

It's coming home...

Victor osimhen lo kan.

It's between Osimhen and Hakimi but Osimhem has it.

It has been written that Victor James Osimhen will win it..

This I've seen

Victor Osimhen…CAF African Footballer of the Year 2023.
Helping Napoli to win the scudetto after 33 years of waiting and also becoming the first African to become the Serie A highest goal scorer and the highest number of goals scored by an African player in Serie A all in a single season makes him favorite for the award.

Salah's performance last season was poor, Hakimi's own was nothing to write home about but Oshimen gave glory to his club so there's high probability that he'll win it, while Hakimi wins the man who saw the future of the year award.

Hakimi brought glory to men by countering his wife's devious move.

That race is between Salah and Osimen, but I see Osimen winning it. Dude has done so well in his club side.

Osimhen's so cute.
Hakimi looked like an ex-rapist.
Salah looked like a rehabilitated terrorist.

Osimhen for the trophy.

OSIMHEN is the next APOTY

.

Beuberry:
Osimhen's so cute.
Hakimi looked like an ex-rapist.
Salah looked like a rehabilitated terrorist.

Osimhen for the trophy.

👤

Looking at their respective national team contribution, sincerely, I don't see anyone thats been outstanding. ...But my footballer Man of the Year remains Ogbon Hakimi aka "I own Nothing"

Our authorities should not complain if caf rig it.

Rig is a go go for the authorities here

Osimehin will win it

AmadeGTG:
It’s between hakimi and Osi

Its not between anybody
Osimhen wins it easily
Most influential African player for Club and country this year

Homeboy for the win

Na HAKIMI get diz one...

Non world Cup appearance go cut osihmen votes oooo

The world knows OSIMHEN worth it.
Make CAF no do ojoro ooo
Only Morocco wish Hakimi
While Egypt wish Salah

Likes for Osimhen, Share for Hakimi
Salah otilo

VICTOR!!!