Egypt and Liverpool forward, Mohamed Salah has been named CAF African Player of the Year for the second successive year.
Salah held off competition from teammate Sadio Mane and Arsenal’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to land the award.
CAF conducted a poll of national teams’ head coaches and technical directors, members of the governing body’s technical and development committee and a panel of media experts selected Salah as the continent’s outstanding footballer in 2018.
The Egyptian received the accolade at a ceremony in Dakar, Senegal, on Tuesday evening, where he was also included in the Africa Best XI for 2018 alongside Mane and Naby Keita. He scored 44 times during a 2017-18 campaign in which he helped his club reach the Champions League final, before then netting twice at last summer’s World Cup.
A further 16 goals in 29 appearances across all competitions for Liverpool have followed so far this season, while Salah also contributed four goals in three Africa Cup of Nations qualification outings for his country in 2018.
The 26-year-old’s performances throughout the year also saw him retain the BBC African Footballer of the Year prize and finish sixth in the Ballon d’Or standings.
Salah, in his acceptance speech, said he dreamt of the ACF award as a little boy and is happy to have received it twice. He also dedicated the award to his country Egypt.