For the second year in a row, Egypt’s Mohamed Salah was named the best African football player by the African Football Confederation (AFC), an award he received on Tuesday (8^th) at a ceremony held in Dakar, Senegal. He has once again beat Sadio Mané, his partner at Liverpool, and the Gabon Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, just as it happened last year.

With his second “title”, Salah takes his country to the third time getting this trophy, after Mahmoud El-Khatib won the first one for Egypt in 198. Cameroon (11 wins) and Ivory Coast (8) continue to lead the premium with the most victories.

After receiving the recognition, the striker made a point of thanking the people that are important in his life

“I can hardly believe it is only been a year since I’ve been on this stage,” the player said, “It’s a great prize, something I dreamed of as a young man, I can only thank my family, my teammates and everyone who played a part in my life.”

A player that shocked the world last season, Salah has a modest start at Liverpool but soon managed to boost up to be a team leader in the 2018/19 season. There are 16 goals scored so far – 13 of them only in the Premier League – helping the Reds to lead the Premier League and to secure another qualification to the round of 16 in the UEFA Champions League.

He had already been the main player of the team of Jürgen Klopp in a memorable campaign in the last edition of the Champions League when the Reds were overtaken by Real Madrid in the final where he got injured. With few weeks to recover, he still managed to be fit in time to get on the pitch and help Egypt in the World Cup in Russia, their first participation since 1990.

With the memorable year Salah had, it would be ridiculous if the prize were given to anybody else. Aubameyang and Mané are a great player, but Salah is still not only the King of Egypt but also King of the whole African continent.