Ghanaians’ reactions to the news of the 30-man shortlist for the Confederation of Africa Football (CAF) Best Men’s Player of the Year award in 2022 have been mixed.
Ghanaians are happy that after two years of no-show, the CAF awards for the year 2022 will be organized but are sad at the same time because no Ghanaian player was found on the 30-man shortlist.
The continental football governing body released a 30-man shortlist on Thursday, June 30 for the 2022 CAF player of the year award with former winners Mohammed Salah and Sadio Mane leading the shortlist.
No Ghanaian player was nominated as the likes of Riyad Mahrez, Bertrand Traore, Naby Keita, Vincent Aboubakar, Achraf Hakimi, Franck Kessie, Mohemed Elneny, Moses Simon and others made the list.
The only Ghanaian who might appear on the podium for this year’s CAF Awards will be Kamaldeen Sulemana who was noted for the Young Player of the Year category.
Thomas Partey is the last Ghanaian who was shortlisted for the CAF Footballer of the Year award after helping Spanish giants Atletico Madrid to win the 2019 UEFA Europa League.
Today, GhanaWeb looks at the three former Black Stars players who won the CAF Footballer of the Year Awar4d since no Ghanaian was nominated for the 2022 edition.
Ibrahim Sunday
The former Asante Kotoko captain and Black Stars player was the first Ghanaian to win the African Footballer of the Year Award. In Ibrahim Sunday’s era, the award was called the African Ballon D’Or.
Ibrahim Sunday won the African Ballon D’OR Award after beating his Asante Kotoko teammate Robert Mensah and Cameroon’s Francois Ndoumbe to become the first Ghanaian to win the award in 1971 after Mali’s Salif Keïta had won the maiden edition in 1970.
Abdul Razak ‘Golden Boy’
Seven years after Ibrahim Sunday, another Ghanaian who also played for Asante Kotoko was crowned as the African Footballer of the Year in 1978.
Golden Boy Abdul Razak became the second Ghanaian player to achieve the feet seven years later in 1978 after beating Algeria’s Ali Bencheickh and Cameroon’s Thomas Nkono for the coveted trophy.
The two still remain the only Ghana Premier League players to have won the Africa Ballon D’OR Award now known as the CAF Footballer of the Year Award.
The greatest Ghanaian to have played in Europe couldn’t have possibly ended his glamorous career without the top African award.
After Ibrahim Sunday and Abdul Razak, Abedi Pele added three more African Footballer of the Year awards to take Ghana’s tally to five.
Abedi Pele in his prime was the best of the best and it proved in the CAF awards after being named as Africa’s best player for three consecutive seasons.
From 1991-1993, the Olympique de Marseille ended the season as the best player on the African continent.
Author: Joel Eshun