Senegal’s Sadio Mane and Kalidou Koulibaly are leading the line for five African players named among 30 footballers shortlisted for this year’s Ballon d’Or, France Football magazine revealed on Monday evening.
By Ibrahima Dione
Aside from Napoli defender Koulibaly and Liverpool striker Mane, Gabon’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Arsenal, England), Riyad Mahrez of Algeria (Manchester City, England) and Egypt’s Mohamed Salah (FC Liverpool, England) are in the hunt for Africa’s first Ballon d’Or since 1995.
Sadio Mane, an Africa Cup of Nations finalist, vice-champion of England, winner of the European Champions League and the European Supercup, is severally mentioned among the firm favorites for football’s most prestigious individual prize.
The award was first made in 1956.
In an interview with France Football, Mane, the star of Senegal’s national team stressed that the Ballon d’Or has always been for him a dream for him since he was a child.
Convinced that his nomination is “the fruit of his work,” Mané has, however pointed out that the award is by no means a personal obsession.
All the same, the player trained at the Generation Foot Academy (Senegal) said he would be “the happiest man in the world” should he win the award.
To date current Liberian president George Weah is the only African to have won the prestigious award as a player in 1995.
A total of 180 sports journalists from 180 countries will choose their top 5 players for this year.
The successor of Luka Modric (Croatia) will be known on December 2nd during an exceptional evening hosted by the former Ivorian international Didier Drogba at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris, France.
This is the first time since 1995 that the titleholder will be absent from the event.
The list of the Ballon d’Or 2019 nominees is as follows:
Goalkeepers (3): Hugo Lloris (Tottenham, France), Marc-Andre Ter Stegen (FC Barcelona, Germany) and Alisson Becker (FC Liverpool, Brazil).
Defenders (5): Trent Alexander-Arnold (FC Liverpool, England), Matthijs De Ligt (Juventus, The Netherlands), Virgil Van Dijk (FC Liverpool, The Netherlands), Kalidou Koulibaly (Naples, Senegal) and Marquinhos (Paris Saint-Germain, Brazil).
Midfielders (4) : Frenkie De Jong (FC Barcelona, The Netherlands), Donny Van De Beek (Ajax Amsterdam, The Netherlands), Georgino Wijnaldum (FC Liverpool, The Netherlands) et Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City, Belgium).
Attackers (18) : Sadio Mané (Liverpool, Senegal), Sergio Aguerro (Manchester City, Argentina), Dusan Tadic (Ajax Amsterdam, Serbia), Kylian Mbappé (Paris Saint-Germain, France), Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Arsenal, Gabon), Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus, Portugal), Karim Benzema (Real Madrid, France), Heung-Min Son (Tottenham, South Korea), Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich, Poland), Roberto Firmino (FC Liverpool, Brazil), Bernardo Silva (Manchester City, Portugal), Lionel Messi (FC Barcelona, Argentina), Riyad Mahrez (Manchester City, Algeria), Antoine Griezmann (FC Barcelona, France), Mohamed Salah (FC Liverpool, Egypt), Eden Hazard (Real Madrid, Belgium), Raheem Sterling (Manchester City, England) and Joao Felix (Atletico Madrid, Portugal).
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