CAF Awards 2023: Victor Osimhen named African Player of the Year, Asisat Oshoala queen of Africa, Regragui, Bounou, Morocco and Lamine Camara also honoured
Victor Osmhen is the 2023 African Player of the Year. Fellow Nigerian Asiat Oshoala also wins on the women's side.
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2023 will live long in Victor Osimhen's memory. The striker was named African Player of the Year on Monday 11 December at the CAF Awards ceremony. And it is richly deserved for a man who won Serie A, Napoli's first title since 1990 and the days of Diego Maradona. He also finished as top scorer in Calcio with 26 goals. On top of that came a Champions League quarter-final and the title of Italy's best player as voted by the players. At 24, it has been a thoroughly full year for the former Lille man. He finished ahead of Achraf Hakimi (Morocco, PSG) and Mohamed Salah (Egypt, Liverpool)
Victor Osimhen is also the first Nigerian winner since Nwankwo Kanu in 1999. It is, what's more, the 6th time a Super Eagle has won the trophy, after Rashidi Yekini (1993), Emmanuel Amunike (1994), Nwankwo Kanu (1996 and 1999) and Victor Ikpeba (1997).
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Walid Regragui, Yassine Bounou, Lamine Camara…
However, Victor Osimhen was not the only winner at the CAF Awards ceremony. Walid Regragui was named Coach of the Year, having led Morocco to the semi-finals of the 2022 World Cup. The Atlas Lions are, fittingly, the national team of the year for 2023. Another Moroccan to leave with a trophy was Yassine Bounou. The Sevilla goalkeeper was named Africa's best goalkeeper of 2023 on the back of his World Cup semi-final and the Europa League win.
The Young Player of the Year award goes to Lamine Camara. The 19-year-old Senegalese prodigy comes off an exceptional year after winning the CHAN and the U20 AFCON, two competitions in which he was named player of the tournament. He won his first cap and scored his first goal for Senegal's senior side. He has also made a good start to the season with Metz in Ligue 1. He finished ahead of his compatriot Amara Diouf and Morocco's Abdessamad Ezzalzouli. Al Ahly were named African club of the year after another CAF Champions League triumph.
Nigeria and South Africa sweep almost everything on the women's side
As with Victor Osimhen, the African Women's Player of the Year also comes from Nigeria, in the shape of Asisat Oshoala. The forward won the Champions League again with Barça. It is the 6th time she has claimed the player of the year title, after 2014, 2016, 2017, 2019 and 2022. A reign without equal.
Still on the women's side, Chiamaka Nnadozie is goalkeeper of the year for 2023. In the national team category, Nigeria take the title of best team of 2023. The Flying Eagles notably reached the round of 16 at the 2023 World Cup. The Nigerian women finished ahead of South Africa, who are nonetheless the reigning African champions. South Africa can console themselves, though, with their head coach Desiree Ellis being named coach of the year. Mamelodi Sundowns take the women's club of the year award after winning the title in the Women's Champions League. Fatima Tagnaout, for her part, picks up the trophy for best player in interclub competition.