Egypt captain Mohamed Salah was on Thursday night crowned African Player of the Year 2017 by the Confederation of African Football (Caf).
At an awards gala held in Accra, the leading goal scorer in the English Premier League beat competition from Liverpool club mate Sadio Mane and Dortmund goal poacher Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to emerge winner.
This adds up to the 2017 BBC African Player of the Year award he won last month.
Salah’s national team coach, Hector Cuper, was also named the Coach of the Year.
The Pharaohs, who qualified to the 2018 World Cup at the expense of Ghana’s Black Stars, were named the National Team of the Year.
Salah, who returned to the Premier League after an unsuccessful stint with Chelsea FC, dedicated his award to kids in Egypt and Africa as a whole.
“Never stop dreaming,” he said.
Other award winners of the night included Nigeria’s Asisat Oshoala, who was crowned the Women’s Footballer of the Year, and Zambia’s Patson Daka, who was named the African Young Player of the Year.
Ghana’s head of state Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo was given the Platinum Award together with President-elect of Liberia George Oppon Weah, who is a former Africa Footballer of the Year.
Another former top footballer, Ibrahim Sunday, was given the Legend Award.
Eleven players were chosen by fans from across the continent as the best footballers in the past year.
Curiously, there was no Mane and Aubameyang, who were second and third best players, respectively, to Salah. The squad is dominated by Moroccans.
Caf Best XI:
Goalkeeper: Aymen Matlouthi (Tunisia)
Defenders: Aly Maloul (Tunisia), Eric Bailly (Ivory Coast), Ahmed Fathy (Egypt)
Midfielders: Achraf Bencharki (Morocco), Karim El Ahmadi (Morocco), Junior Ajayi (Nigeria), Mohamed Ounnajem (Morocco)
Strikers: Khalid Boutaib (Morocco), Taha Khenessi (Tunisia), Mo Salah (Egypt)
By Emmanuel Kwame Amoh|3news.com|Ghana