Thomas Partey, Mukarama Abdulai up for CAF top award

Confederation of African Football have shortlisted two Ghanaian stars for this year's CAF African Player of the Year and Women's Footballer of the Year award set for Dakar, Senegal on Tuesday, January 8, 2019.

Thomas Partey and Mukarama Abdulai made the shortlist in their respective categories.

The duo have been superb for Ghana and their club. Partey is currently regarded as one of the best players in the Atletico Madrid setup.

For Mukarama, she led Ghana U-17 female team to this year's FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup but Ghana failed to progress to the semi-final. At the time of exiting the tourney, she has scored seven goals.

Liverpool and Egypt forward Mohamed Salah is the current holder of the Footballer of the Year award following his superb performance for both club and country last year.

He led the Pharaohs back to the global football showpiece after scoring five goals in five matches during the qualification process.

Liverpool forward Sadio Mane, Idrissa Gueye of Everton, Man City summer signing Riyad Mahrez, Wilfried Zaha (Cote d’Ivoire & Crystal Palace) and Yacine Brahimi (Algeria & Porto) are other contenders for the prize.

YEN.com.gh recalls that Liverpool duo of Mohammed Salah and Sadio Mane top the list of players nominated for 2018 BBC best African footballer.

The shortlist, which has been compiled by a panel of African football experts, comprises Medhi Benatia (Morocco), Kalidou Koulibaly (Senegal), Thomas Partey (Ghana), Sadio Mane (Senegal) and Mohamed Salah (Egypt).

Since its inception in 1992, 20 players have won the award and Ghanaian footballer Abedi Pele was the inaugural winner of the award 26 years ago.

? Here is the list of nominees for the various categories of the CAF Awards 2018????:
The Awards ???? Gala, to honour footballers & officials who distinguished themselves during the year under review, will be held on Tuesday, 8 January 2019 in Dakar, Senegal????????.#CAFAwards pic.twitter.com/cQgbWN5NgS

— CAF (@CAF_Online) November 30, 2018