Including Sadio Mane: Four African Players Have Been Named in The Ballon d’Or man Shortlist

This year’s Ballon d’Or ceremony will receive a lot of interest from African football fans. The continent has five nominees for the prestigious award after Riyad Mahrez, Sadio Mane, Mohamed Salah, Sebastien Haller, and Aistat Oshoala made the shortlist. Liberia’s George Weah is the only African player to have won the esteemed award. He won it in 1995 while playing for AC Milan. For those who wager on football on bet365 in Nigeria, the nomination of these African stars comes as no surprise. All of them have played a key role in bringing their teams success.

What are the chances for the African players to win it?

Many football commentators have France striker Karim Benzema and Spain and Barcelona star Alexia Putellas as the frontrunners to win the men’s and women’s awards. Nonetheless, this post looks at the chances of the African nominees winning it.

Sadio Mane

Mane is African Player of the Year, and many believe he will push Benzema to the wire after having an outstanding season for club and country. The Senegalese forward moved from Liverpool to Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich. He scored 23 goals for The Reds, helping them win the Carabao and FA Cups. Moreover, he played a key role in helping Liverpool reach the Champions League Finals and missed the EPL title by a single point.

Mane was also a key player for Senegal, winning their first Africa Cup of Nations title. The Senegalese scored three goals and provided his teammates with two assists. After that, he helped his nation qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Mane finished fourth three years ago behind Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Virgil van Dijk.

Mohamed Salah

The Egyptian forward also has a chance of being crowned the Ballon d’Or winner thanks to his record in the EPL last season. He won the PFA Players’ Player of the Year Award after scoring 31 goals in all competitions, winning the EPL Golden Boot. He also helped his team by contributing 15 assists.

Salah was also instrumental in helping Liverpool win the Carabao and FA Cup. His only failure is he could not help Egypt to clinch the AFCON in 2021. This is his fourth nomination for this prestigious award.

Riyad Mahrez

Mahrez was Manchester City’s top scorer in their title-winning campaign. The Algerian scored 24 goals and provided nine assists. Moreover, his goals were in crucial games like the FA Cup Semi-Finals, and key Champions League matches.

But, he did not enjoy much success for his country as they were eliminated at the group stage. He has been nominated for the Ballon d’Or three times.

Sebastian Haller

Haller is ranked as an outsider despite his impressive season with Ajax. He was Ajax’s top scorer after grabbing 34 goals and seven assists. He also won the Eredivisie Golden Boot Award. He did not enjoy success at the country level.

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