- By Demola Atobaba, Ado-Ekiti
It was outpouring of encomiums has Nigeria superstar and Super Eagles striker, Victor Osimhen, breaks a 24-year-old jinx to emerged the best 2023 Men’s Player of the Year.
Osimhen triumphed over Morocco’s Achraf Hakimi and Egypt’s Mohamed Salah to win the coveted trophy during the CAF 2023 Awards held in Marrakech, Morocco, on Monday.
Osimhen was only months old when Super Eagles legend Nwankwo Kanu was named CAF Player of the Year in 1999, and since then, no Nigerian footballer has ever won the award.
He has now become the first player from the West African nation to win the award in 24 years and only the fifth in the country’s football history.
Osimhen scored 31 goals in 39 games across all competitions for Napoli, inspiring the Italian club to their first Serie A title in 33 years.
The 24-year-old has since won the Serie A Striker of the Season award and also recently won the AIC Player of the Year award voted for by Italian footballers while finishing eighth on the 2023 Ballon d’Or rankings.
In a related development, Super Falcons legend forward, Asisat Oshoala was named the 2023 Women player of the year to become the first woman in history to win the award six times. She had previously won it in 2014, 2016, 2017, 2019 and 2022.
In other categories, Chiamaka Nnadozie emerged the woman goalkeeper of the Year but surprisingly wasn’t named in the CAF FIFpro team which had Michelle Aloize, Osinachi Ohale and Asisat Oshoala listed.
Also, the Super Falcons were named the women national team of the Year.
Meanwhile, Osimhen has been nominated for the 2023 IFFHS Men’s World Best Player award.
The International Federation of Football History and Statistics (IFFHS) nominated him along with 24 other players as a recognition of his exploits in the 2022/23 season.
Osimhen would have to compete with notable names such as Lionel Messi (the current holder of the award), Cristiano Ronaldo, Kylian Mbappe, Erling Haaland, Antoine Griezman and Bukayo Saka amongst others for the 2023 IFFHS Men’s World Best Player award.
