Mohamed Salah: King of Africa

When the Egyptian football star Mohamed Salah won the African Player of the Year award in 2017, many people claimed that he will not be able to continue his successful career with Liverpool, saying that his success in that season was only a mere chance.

Yet, the Egyptian star proved them wrong and continued a successful career with the Reds for the second season. The Confederation of African Football affirmed this on Tuesday evening in the Senegalese capital Dakar, by giving him the African Player of the Year award for the second consecutive year. He was also earlier granted the BBC African Footballer of the Year for the second year in a row.

Salah topped the best players in Africa in 2018, beating his Senegalese teammate, Sadio Mané, who was nominated twice, as well as the Gabonese Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Arsenal’s striker, and the trophy’s holder in 2015.

By winning this award, Salah carves his name along with African football legends, becoming the fourth player to win the award for two consecutive years after the Senegalese El Hadji Diouf in 2001 and 2002, Samuel Eto’o in 2003 and 2004, and Yaya Touré in 2011 and 2012.

The Egyptian king is looking forward to take the title for the third season to match Samuel Eto’o’s number, then a fourth title to match Yaya Touré, the four consecutive seasons’ title holder in 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014.

Salah is now the first Arab footballer to win the African Player of the Year for two years in a row. In 2016, Riyad Mahrez won the title. The tournament’s record of 27 awards was only won by three Arab players, namely Salah, Mahrez, and Mustapha Hadji in 1998.

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