Manchester City’s Algerian footballer Riyad Mahrez has congratulated Liverpool and Senegal player Sadio Mané for being named the Confederation of African Football’s (Caf) Player of the Year.
Mané beat Mahrez and Liverpool teammate and Egypt forward Mohamed Salah to the award.
He collected his award at a ceremony in Hurghada, Egypt – neither Salah, who had won the award in both the past two years, nor Mahrez were present.
Mahrez apologised for not being at the award ceremony in Egypt, joking that he had to rush out and start scoring more goals to get the award himself in 2020:
Congratulations to Sadio for his trophy well deserved ?? and sorry I couldn’t come but I had to start scoring for the 2020 trophy ?? see you next year inch’Allah ?? #CAFAwards2019 pic.twitter.com/AdomL38DoE
— Riyad Mahrez (@Mahrez22) January 7, 2020
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Mané, 27, helped the Reds to the 2018-19 Champions League title, scoring 30 goals in all competitions last season.
He has scored 15 goals so far in 2019-20, with Liverpool 13 points clear at the top of the Premier League table.
Mané has finished in the award’s top three for the last three years, and has long targeted the prize in order to emulate the achievement of one of his heroes, former Liverpool striker El Hadji Diouf, who won it in 2002.
