Super Eagles stars nominated for CAF Player of The Year awards

Super Eagles duo of Moses Simon and Akinkunmi Amoo are among the nominees for this year’s CAF Player of the Year in different categories.

FC Nantes winger Simon was nominated alongside 29 others for the CAF Men’s Player of the Year award. The 27-year-old winger helped his French side to win the Coupe de France and finish in ninth place in the league. Simon scored six goals and eight assists for his side in the league. The versatile winger was also Nigeria’s best player at the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon, where he contributed a goal and an assist in four appearances for the Super Eagles.

Sensational winger Akinkunmi Amoo was nominated for the CAF Young Player of the Year award alongside nine others after an impressive year by the 20-year-old winger.

Amoo started the year as a Hammarby player in Sweden’s top-flight and helped them reach third place in their league, contributing nine goals and five assists in 29 appearances. He also starred as his side finished the Svenska Cup in second place.

Amoo earned a move to Danish giants FC Copenhagen after impressing in Sweden, and scored one goal in two appearances for his new club. The diminutive winger was called up to the Super Eagles squad for the FIFA World Cup Playoffs against Ghana.

Super Eagles striker Victor Osimhen was left out of the shortlist for the CAF Player of the Year despite enjoying a stellar season with his Italian club SSC Napoli. The striker was named as Serie A’s Young Player of the Year after scoring 14 goals in the league.

Rangers midfield ace Joe Aribo was also snubbed despite playing a key role for his side as they reached the final of the UEFA Europa League in which he scored, and won the Scottish Cup.

Here is the list of nominees in full:

CAF Men’s Player of the Year: Mohamed Salah, Mohamed El-Neny, Mohamed AbdulMoneim, Mohamed El-Shenawy (Egypt); Sadio Mane, Kalidou Koulibaly, Edouard Mendy, Nampalys Mendy, Saliou Ciss (Senegal); Yves Bissouma, Hamari Traore, Aliou Dieng (Mali); Yacine Bounou, Yahya Jabrane, Sofiane Boufal, Achraf Hakimi (Morocco); Moses Simon (Nigeria); Ali Maaloul (Tunisia); Naby Keita (Guinea); Musa Barrow (Gambia); Sebastien Haller, Franck Kessie (Cote d’Ivoire); Youssouf M’Changama (Comoros); Vincent Aboubakar, Karl Toko-Ekambi, Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa (Cameroon); Edmund Tapsoba, Blati Toure, Bertrand Traore (Burkina Faso); Riyad Mahrez (Algeria).

CAF Young Player of The Year: Akinkunmi Amoo (Nigeria), Ilaix Moriba (Guinea), Dango Ouattara (Burkina Faso), Karim Konate (Cote d’Ivoire), Jesus Owono (Equatorial Guinea), James Gomez (Gambia), Kamaldeen Sulemana (Ghana), Hannibal Mejbri (Tunisia), Pape Matar Sarr (Senegal), El Bilal Toure (Mali).

The ceremony will be held on 21st July 2022 in Rabat, Morocco.