Super Eagles team Coordinator, Patrick Pascal, has called on Nigerian players to do more and be more consistent, especially at club level, in order to stand a chance of winning the coveted CAF African footballer of the Year Award.

Pascal made the remarks to News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday, in response to the final shortlisting of the 2019 African Footballer of the Year Award.

According to news reaching Flavision from NAN, CAF shortlisted Egypt’s Mohamed Salah, Senegal’s Sadio Mane and Algeria’s Riyad Mahrez on Sunday, in its final list for the 2019 edition of the event.

Super Eagle’s Odion Ighalo, who was the highest scorer in both 2019 African Cup of Nations qualifiers and AFCON tournament was named in the initial 10-man list.

If it is strictly by the national team performance, Ighalo would have made it to the final cut because of his performance during the AFCON qualifiers and the 2019 AFCON tournament proper.

You know CAF will check your performance at the national team level and the club level, and when you look at the club level Mane and Salah were spectacular en route winning the UEFA champions league with Liverpool.

So, I think our Nigerian players must do more at club level to win the award in the nearest future,

he said.

For the CAF Youth Player of the Year category, Pascal however was optimistic that either Samuel Chukwueze (Villarreal, Spain) or Victor Osimhen (Lille, France) would win the award, as both youngsters have been spectacular at both club level and national team.

The ex-international and Atlanta Olympic Gold medalist called on all football stakeholders and Nigerians in general to support the present squad of young Super Eagles players to take Nigerian football back to its enviable glory.

On Sunday, CAF’s Technical and Development Committee and a panel of media experts announced the final shortlist for the awards which is scheduled to hold in Hurghada, Egypt in January 2020.

1999 was the last time a Nigerian footballer won the prestigious award, when Kanu Nwankwo in an era when Nigerians dominated the awards with the likes of Emmanuel Amunike (1994), late Rashidi Yekini (1993), Victor Ikpeba (1997), and Kanu Nwankwo (1996/1999).

Justin Nwosu

Justin Nwosu is the founder and publisher of Flavision. His core interest is in writing unbiased news about Nigeria in particular and Africa in general. He’s a strong adherent of investigative journalism, with a bent on exposing corruption, abuse of power and societal ills.

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