In light of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s 16th placed finish in the Goal 50 poll, we asked readers how the Gabon hitman ranked against some of the continent’s finest forwards in history.
In making this year’s list—his first appearance in our celebration of the best players in the world—Aubameyang follows in the footsteps of Didier Drogba and Samuel Eto’o, both of whom have made regular appearances in the top 50 over the years.
Eto’o featured in 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011, while Drogba’s best-ever finish was sixth in 2012, while he also made the cut in 2010.
Following Aubameyang’s nomination, we asked Goal readers where the Central African ranks alongside the greatest strikers in the history of the continent, namely, Eto’o, Drogba and Liberian legend George Weah, whose playing career ended before the Goal 50 began.
You voted in your droves, and backed Chelsea legend Drogba as the finest of our celebrated quartet, with the Ivorian icon picking up 34 percent of the votes.
He made the cut just ahead of Samuel Eto’o, his long-time rival and successor at Chelsea, with the Cameroon forward receiving 30 percent of the votes.
Trailing the pair, but only by the narrowest of margins, was Weah, who claimed 28 percent of the votes, just short of Drogba and Eto’o.
Aubameyang, as you can imagine, trailed the other three by some distance, with his 25-goal haul in the Bundesliga last season and his explosive start to this campaign only earning him eight percent of the vote.
Can 27-year-old Aubameyang do enough over the coming years to one day stand alongside these African greats?
Join GhanaStar.com to receive daily email alerts of breaking news in Ghana. GhanaStar.com is your source for all Ghana News. Get the latest Ghana news, breaking news, sports, politics, entertainment and more about Ghana, Africa and beyond.