The Confederation of African Football (CAF) on Sunday, October 11, 2015 released a 37-man shortlist for the 2015 African footballer of the year award.
Two Nigerians made this year’s list and they are former Super Eagles goalkeeper and captain, Vincent Enyeama and CSKA Moscow winger and new Super Eagles captain, Ahmed Musa.
The Nigerian duo face a herculean task as Ivorian midfielder and current African Player of the year, Yaya Toure makes the list too.
Some of the notable names in the list include Ghana’s Andre Ayew, Gabon’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Algeria’s Riyad Mahrez and DR Congo’s Yannick Bolasie.
The 37-man list will be cut down to a 10-man list by November. It will then be further reduced to a 5-man list and then the final list of 3 before the award ceremony.
Here’s the full list of nominees:
Ahmed Musa, Andre Ayew, Aymen Abdennour, Baghdad Bonjah, Bassem Morsi Zamalek, Chrisitian Atsu, Dieu Merci Mbokani, El Arbi Hillel Soudani, Faouzi Ghoulam, Férébory Doré Angers, Gervais Yao Kouassi, Ibrahima Traoré, Javier Balboa, Héldon Ramos, Mame Diouf, Max Alain Gradel, Mehdi Benatia, Modather Al Tayeb “Karika”, Mohamed Salah, Nicolas Nkoulou, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Robert Kidiaba, Rudy Gestede, Riyad Mahrez, Sadio Mané, Serge Aurier, Seydou Keita, Sofiane Feghouli, Stéphane Mbia, Thievy Bifouma, Victor Wanyama, Vincent Aboubakar, Vincent Enyeama, Yacine Brahimi, Yannick Bolasie, Yasine Chikhaoui, and Yaya Toure
Meanwhile, no home based Nigerian made the 24-man shortlist for the African player of the year based in Africa.
