Sports
Five African stars form part of 30-man Ballon d’Or shortlist
A total of five footballers of African origin were announced as contenders for the 2019 Ballon d’Or award on Monday night.
Liverpool duo of Sadio Mane (Senegal) and Mohamed Salah (Egypt), Napoli’s Napoli stalwart Kalidou Koulibaly (Senegal), Arsenal’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Gabon) and Manchester City’s Riyad Mahrez (Algeria) all made the list.
The two five-time winners of the award, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, alongside current UEFA Player of the Year, Virgil Van Dijk, were also shortlisted.
For the Best Goalkeeper award, Liverpool’s Alisson, Ederson of Manchester City, Chelsea’s Kepa Arrizabalaga and Tottenham’s Hugo Lloris were nominated.
Others include: Bayern Munich’s Manuel Neuer, Inter Milan’s Samir Handanovic, Atletico Madrid’s Jan Oblak, Ajax’s Andre Onana, Juventus’ Wojciech Szczesny and Ter Stegen of Barcelona.
Read Also: Villarreal celebrate Chukwueze on nomination for Kopa Trophy Award
List of nominees for the men’s award:
Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool)
Bernardo Silva (Manchester City)
Son Heung-min (Tottenham)
Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich)
Roberto Firmino (Liverpool)
Alisson (Liverpool)
Matthijs de Ligt (Juventus)
Karim Benzema (Real Madrid)
Georginio Wijnaldum (Liverpool)
Sergio Aguero (Manchester City)
Frenkie de Jong (Barcelona)
Hugo Lloris (Tottenham)
Dusan Tadic (Ajax)
Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus)
Kylian Mbappe (Paris St-Germain)
Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool)??????
Donny van de Beek (Ajax)
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Arsenal)
Marc-Andre ter Stegen (Barcelona)
Sadio Mane (Liverpool)
Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
Riyad Mahrez (Manchester City)
Kevin de Bruyne (Manchester City)
Kalidou Koulibaly (Napoli)
Antoine Griezmann (Barcelona)
Mohammed Salah (Liverpool)
Eden Hazard (Real Madrid)
Marquinhos (Paris St-Germain)
Raheem Sterling (Manchester City)
Joao Felix (Atletico Madrid)
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