Photo: Victor Osimhen.
Breaking: Nigeria’s Victor Osimhen wins Africa Player Of The Year award
Nigeria’s Super Eagles striker and Italy’s Napoli FC forward, Victor Osimhen, has won the Confederation of African Football (CAF) 2023 Africa Player Of The Year award.
Osimhen beat the duo of Moroccan defender, Achraf Hakimi of French football club, Paris Saint Germane, and Egypt’s Mohammed Salah, who plays for Liverpool of England, to the title at the event held in Marakesh, Morocco on Monday evening.
The soccer star’s award comes on the heels of his outstanding performance for FC Napoli last season, where he found the back of the net 26 times to power them to their first league title in 33 years.
Osimhen was also the first African to win the top scorer award in the history of the Italian Serie A.
The clinching of the prestigious crown by Osimhen has ended Nigeria’s long wait for the elusive Africa Footballer of the Year award, which she won last when Kanu Nwankwo won it in 1999.
He is the 5th Nigerian footballer to be so crowned, as he follows in the footsteps of 4 other Nigerian players who won it in the past.
The past winners include the late Rasheedi Yekini (1993); Emmanuel Amuneke (1994); Victor Ikpeba (1997); and Kanu Nwankwo (1996, 1999).
