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Ballon d’Or: Do African nominees, Mane, Salah, Mahrez, Haller, Oshoala stand any chance?

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It is pleasant news that five African players have been nominated for the Ballon d’Or award with Egypt and Liverpool forward, Mohamed Salah, topping the list.

Other African stars, Sadio Mane of Senegal, Algerian Riyad Mahrez, Ivory Coast striker, Sebastien Haller and Nigerian Super Falcons and Barcelona striker, Asisat Oshoala, also made the shortlist released on Friday.

So far, former Liberian captain, George Weah, is the only African to have won the Ballon d’Or award which he picked up in 1995 while playing for AC Milan.

With the five African stars nominated to battle the likes of France and Real Madrid striker, Karim Benzema, and his national team mate, Killian Mbape of PSG, it is left to be seen if the continent stars stand any chance of following in Weah’s footsteps.

Here, Africanewswatch takes a look at the five and their chances of picking the prestigious award.

Mohamed Salah

This is the fourth time the Egyptian forward will be getting a Ballon d’Or nomination with his best finish being fifth position in 2019. In 2018, he was sixth in 2018, and seventh in 2021.

This could be Salah’s best chance of winning the award after scooping the Premier League PFA Players’ Player of the Year Award last seasonThe Liverpool striker scored 31 goals in all competitions (23 in the league) and 15 assists for Liverpool to win the Premier League Golden Boot Award as the Reds won the FA and Carabao Cups and reached the Champions League final.

Mohamed Salah with his PFA award (Photo Credit: Getty Images)

Mohamed Salah with his PFA award (Photo Credit: Getty Images)

The only setback to an otherwise fantastic season was Egypt losing the 2021 Afcon to a Sadio Mané inspired Senagal in Cameroon as well as missing the 2022 World Cup.

Sadio Mané

Sadio Mané’s status as the reigning African Player of the Year should propel him to give the award a big shout following his brilliant form for club and country.

The Senegal and Bayern Munich strike star netted 23 goals for Liverpool in the EPL, won the FA and Carabao Cups, reached the final of the Champions League, led Senegal to her first Afcon trophy before ending with the African Player of the Year.

African player of the year,  Sadio Mane (Photo Credit: Getty Images)

African player of the year, Sadio Mane (Photo Credit: Getty Images)

To add to a spectacular year, Mane was instrumental to qualifying Senegal for the Qatar World Cup at the expense of Egypt.

Three years ago, Mane was also nominated for the Ballon d’Or where he finished fourth behind Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Virgil van Dijk.

Riyad Mahrez

Algerian captain and Manchester City winger, Riyad Mahrez is another African star who has been nominated for the Ballon d’Or after a fantastic season for the EPL Champions where he scored 24 goals and notched up nine assists as Pep Guardiola’s men romped to the Premier League title.

He also scored crucial goals as Man City reached the semi finals of the Champions League and the FA Cup.

Riyad Mahrez is also in with a shout (Photo Credit: Getty Images)

Riyad Mahrez is also in with a shout (Photo Credit: Getty Images)

He could, however, not replicate his fine club form for Algeria following a dismal outing at the Afcon in Cameroon as they were eliminated in the group stage.

Mahrez has been nominated for the Ballon d’Or three times before now.

Sebastien Haller

From every indication, Sebastien Haller of Ivory Coast is an outsider when it comes to winning the Ballon d’Or even with his impressive outing for Ajax last season.

He was the Dutch club’s highest goal scorer with 34 goals and seven assists in all competitions and won the Eredivisie Golden Boot Award after scoring 21 league goals.

Sebastien Haller may just be making up the number (Photo Credit: Getty Images)

Sebastien Haller may just be making up the number (Photo Credit: Getty Images)

But the newly signed Borussia Dortmund forward did not have a great run for the national team as the Ivorians were knocked out of the Afcon by Egypt in the round of 16.

Asisat Oshoala

Nigeria’s Super Falcons and Barcelona forward, Asisat Oshoala is the only African female player nominated in the women’s category, following a fantastic season with the Spanish team where she scored 20 goals and took home the women Pichichi award.

Oshoala was a strong force in the Barca attack as they won the league, Super Cup and Copa de la Reina titles.

She also won the female version of the African Player of the Year for the fifth time, the first by any player in the continent.

Asisat Oshoala is the first African woman to be nominated for the  Ballon d'Or (Photo Credit: Getty Images)

Asisat Oshoala is the first African woman to be nominated for the Ballon d’Or (Photo Credit: Getty Images)

However, her chances of winning the Ballon d’Or got slimmer after the Super Falcons failed to retain their Women’s Africa Cup of Nations crown in Morocco where she played only one match after suffering an injury in their tournament’s first match.

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Kenyan footballer arrested over brutal robbery, murder case

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A Kenyan footballer, Byron Billy Owuor, has been arrested in connection with a violent robbery that led to the murder of a businesswoman in the Kondele area of Kisumu County of the country.

Owuor, a former Kisumu All-Stars player, was arrested after an AK47 rifle linked to violent robbery and murder was recovered and linked to him.

According to media reports, the 26-year-old midfielder was arrested along with another suspect for their alleged roles in a crime that has shocked the local community.

Police authorities confirmed that they seized the AK47 and 36 rounds of live ammunition linked to the robbery which took place on January 27th.

In a statement by the country’s Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), the weapon was used to fatally shoot the business woman, Grace Awino Adero, who operated an M-Pesa shop with her husband.

“The assailants attacked the couple, making off with the day’s earnings and killing Mrs. Adero, while her husband narrowly survived the encounter,” the DCI said.

“The cold-blooded killers, believed to be part of a larger gang, fled the scene on an unmarked motorcycle, retreating to a hideout in Kasagam.

“Hours later, a suspicious saloon car was located by the Kasagam police during a routine patrol. Upon searching the vehicle, officers discovered a homemade pistol and four mobile phones, alongside an AK47 rifle without its magazine.

“The investigation revealed that the rifle had been obtained illegally from Uganda,” the DCI noted.

A media report stated that the case took a significant turn when detectives identified Robert Wakolo Okoth, also known as Michael Osama, as the alleged mastermind behind the syndicate’s criminal activities.

“Following this lead, a coordinated sting operation was conducted at Osama’s residence near Rai Primary School in Kasagam. During the raid, Osama’s 17-year-old brother, also believed to be a gang member, was arrested.

“The items recovered from the house include an AK47 magazine loaded with ammunition, six rounds of .38 special ammunition typically used in pistols, and five ID cards from different individuals.

“A green camouflage bag and a Kenya Armed Forces Comrades Association card were also found, pointing to the serious nature of the gang’s operations.

“With the arraignment at the Winam Senior Principal Magistrate’s Court, detectives have been granted an additional 14 days to wrap up their investigation.

“The focus now turns to capturing the remaining gang members whose identities have been uncovered but remain at large,” the statement said.

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Liverpool legend Graham Souness wants ‘selfish’ Salah to leave club

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One of the legends of English Premier League club, Liverpool, Graeme Souness, wants Egyptian star, Mohamed Salah, to leave the club due to his “extreme selfish” nature.

Souness who was reacting to the celebrated touchline dispute between Salah and manager Jurgen Klopp during the club’s league match against West Ham last weekend, described Salah as the most selfish player he has ever seen.

Salah got into trouble with Liverpool fans when he was preparing to come on as a substitute, having been selected on the bench for the second time in three games.

Video footage that captured the scene showed Klopp walking up to the Egyptian and whisper something in his ear but whatever the manager said seemed to infuriate Salah who flared up leading to an exchange of words between the duo.

The two have played down the confrontation with Klopp insisting that whatever issue they had has been “completely resolved.”

Klopp who spoke on Friday at a press conference ahead of Liverpool’s home match with Tottenham in the Premier League on Sunday, insisted that his spat with the star forward would not damage to their relationship going forward.

“If we wouldn’t know each other for that long, I don’t know how we would deal with it, but we know each other for that long and respect each other too much that it’s really no problem,” Klopp said.

“In general, the best situation would be everybody is in the best possible place, we win games, we score lots of goals.

“Yes, then the situation with Salah would probably not have been exactly like that. Then Mo wouldn’t have been on the bench in the first place,” the manager said.

However, while speaking on William Hill’s Three Up Front podcast on Friday, Souness called Salah a selfish player and expects him to leave Liverpool.

“Salah is the most selfish player I have ever witnessed. Even before that game, whenever Klopp takes him off, he is never happy about it,” Souness said.

“That is what you want from your players; if you take them off on two goals, they should want to stay on to score a third. When Sadio Mane was there, they’d fall out all the time,” Souness added.

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