CAF awards: Salah, Mane among top three as Oshoala, Ordega put Nigeria in the mix

Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang have made the top three of the most prestigious individual prize in African football.

A repeat of last year, the trio will be hoping to win the CAF player of the year crown for their exploits in 2018.

The winner will be unveiled at the awards gala on January 8 in Dakar, Senegal.

Gabonese icon Aubameyang has now been nominated five times in a row, equalling the record of Ivorian legend Yaya Toure and Ghanaian midfield supremo Michael Essien.

The 29-year-old will be hoping to lay his hands on the crown for a second time.

Salah, 26, made history in 2018 as the first Egyptian to win the award since its inception in 1992. The recent nomination is the second time he has made the final three.

Mane, also 26, is in the top three for the third time.

Nigerian duo of Asisat Oshoala and Francisca Ordega and South African Chrestinah Thembi Kgatlana made the final three of the women’s player of the year.

The three made the cut after a performance-filled year which saw them make headlines at both club and national levels.

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Oshoala, winner for the past two years with three titles overall, has her sights on a fourth title, to equal the feat of Perpetua Nkwocha.