Bafana Bafana star Percy Tau, Banyana Banyana coach Desiree Ellis, captain Janine van Wyk and forward Thembi Kgatlana, as well as Mamelodi Sundowns goalkeeper Denis Onyango have all been nominated for Caf awards.
Tau was nominated for the African Player of the Year prize after a stellar 2018. The former Mamelodi Sundowns star won the Absa Premiership Player of the Year for the 2017/18 season and earned a move to Brighton and Hove Albion. He since went on loan to Belgian second-tier outfit Union Saint Gilloise where has continued to impress and prove and has also carried those performances into the national team.
Tau’s former teammate at Downs Ugandan goalkeeper Onyango has also been nominated for the top individual prize at the awards.
Banyana coach Ellis, who has led her side to the final of the African Women’s Cup of Nations, is in the running to win the Women’s Coach of the Year award, while Banyana have also been put forward for Women’s National Team of the Year accolade.
Two of the stars in the run to the AWCON final captain Van Wyk and star forward Kgatlana have been rewarded for their performances with a nomination for the Women’s African Player of the Year accolade.
The awards ceremony will be held in Senegal on Tuesday, 8 January 2019.
Below is the full list of the nominees:
African Player of the Year nominees:
Abdelmoumene Djabou (Algeria & ES Setif), Ahmed Gomaa (Egypt & El Masry), Ahmed Musa (Nigeria & Al Nassr), Alex Iwobi (Nigeria & Arsenal), Andre Onana (Cameroon & Ajax), Anis Badri (Tunisia & Esperance), Ayoub El Kaabi (Morocco & Hebei China Fortune), Ben Malango (DR Congo & TP Mazembe), Denis Onyango (Uganda & Mamelodi Sundowns), Fanev Andriatsima (Madagascar & Clermont Foot), Franck Kom (Cameroon & Esperance), Jacinto Muondo Dala ‘Gelson’ (Angola & Primeiro de Agosto), Hakim Ziyech (Morocco & Ajax), Idrissa Gueye (Senegal & Everton), Ismail Haddad (Morocco & Wydad Athletic Club), Jean Marc Makusu Mundele (DR Congo & AS Vita), Kalidou Koulibaly (Senegal & Napoli), Mahmoud Benhalib (Morocco & Raja Club Athletic), Mehdi Benatia (Morocco & Juventus), Mohamed Salah (Egypt & Liverpool), Moussa Marega (Mali & Porto) Naby Keita (Guinea & Liverpool), Odion Ighalo (Nigeria & Changchun Yatai, Nigeria), Percy Tau (South Africa & Union Saint Gilloise), Pierre Emerick Aubameyang (Gabon & Arsenal), Riyad Mahrez (Algeria & Manchester City), Sadio Mane (Senegal & Liverpool), Taha Khenissi (Tunisia & Esperance), Thomas Partey (Ghana & Atletico Madrid), Wahbi Khazri (Tunisia & Saint Étienne), Walid Soliman (Egypt & Ahly), Wilfried Zaha (Cote d’Ivoire & Crystal Palace), Yacine Brahimi (Algeria & Porto), Youcef Belaili (Algeria & Esperance).
Women’s African Player of the Year nominees:
Abdulai Mukarama (Ghana & Northern Ladies), Asisat Oshoala (Nigeria &
Dilian Quanjian), Bassira Toure (Mali & AS Mande), Chrestinah Thembi
Kgatlana (South Africa & Houston Dash), Desire Oparanozia (Nigeria & Guingamp), Elizabeth Addo (Ghana & Seattle Reign) Francisca Ordega (Nigeria & Washington Spirit), Gabrielle Aboudi Onguene (Cameroon & C
SKA Moskow), Gaelle Enganamouit (Cameroon & Avaldenes), Janine Van Wyk (South Africa & Houston Dash), Marlyse Ngo Ndoumbouk (Cameroon & Nancy Lorraine), Onome Ebi (Nigeria & Hekan Huisanhang), Portia Boakye (Ghana & Djurgardens), Raissa Feudjio (Cameroon & Aland United), Tabitha Chawinga (Malawi & Jiangsu Suning).
Women’s Coach of the Year nominees:
Bruce Mwape (Zambia), Desiree Ellis (South Africa), Joseph Brian Ndoko (Cameroon), Saloum Houssein (Mali), Thomas Dennerby (Nigeria).
Women’s National Team of the Year nominees:
Cameroon, Ghana, Mali, Nigeria, South Africa.
Photo: Samuel Shivambu/BackpagePix