Egyptian Mohamed Salah has been voted BBC African Footballer of the Year for 2017. Salah has beaten in-form Nigeria and Super Eagles star, Victor Moses, to the 2017 BBC African Footballer Of The Year Award.
See Also: Best FIFA Awards 2017: C Ronaldo Grabs World Player of the Year the 5th Time
Fans voted in record numbers to name Mohamed Salah the winner from a five-man shortlist, with the current Premier League top-scorer selected in front of Gabon’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Guinean and future Liverpool midfielder Naby Keita, current Liverpool team-mate Sadio Mane of Senegal and Nigeria’s Victor Moses.
Other previous winners of the award include: Yaya Touré (2015 & 2013), Yacine Brahimi (2014), Christopher Katongo (2012) and André Ayew (2011).
Salah’s name has been added to a list of legends which includes Jay-Jay Okocha (Nigeria), Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast) and Michael Essien (Ghana).
See Also: New FIFPro-FIFA Deal: Players Win Right to Break Bad Contracts
Overjoyed Salah expressed his excitement over his latest feat when he spoke with BBC Sport.
I am very happy to win this award, It’s always a special feeling when you win something. You feel like you did a great year, so I’m very happy. I would also like to win it next year
He also talked about his intentions to be the best Egyptian player ever and how he is working hard towards it.
25-year-old Salah who joined Liverpool from AS Roma at the beginning of the season has enjoyed arguably the most successful year of his illustrious career, playing in the final of the African Cup of Nations and helping the Pharaohs to qualify for their first Fifa World Cup since 1990.
He was named the club’s player of the month in August and September. In the English Premier League, he leads the top scorer chat with 13 goals and boasts of five goals in this season’s Champions League.
Salah has taken the Premier League by storm this season, in contrast to a less impressive spell in the division with Chelsea between 2014-15.
Mohamed Salah represented Egypt in both 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup and the 2012 Summer Olympics; with the Egypt U-20 team and Egypt U-23 team, scoring in all three of the team’s group matches in the latter tournament and helping them to the quarter-finals.
He made his debut for the Egypt national football team in September 2011, in a 2-1 defeat by Sierra Leone.
Salah was the top scorer for Egypt with five goals during the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification, including both goals in the decisive 2–1 victory over Congo, one of which was a penalty in the last minute to make the Pharaohs reach their first World Cup finals since 1990.
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.
