African Football Discussion Thread {Male & Female} Current Topic: 👉 WAFCON

[Oluwa-btc]

Few hours ago, Confederation of African Football (CAF) announced the finalists for this year's African best player award and surprisingly to me Real Madrid and Morocco forward Brahim Diaz didn't make the shortlist. My prediction from the moment CAF first published the nominees for the award this year have been that Nigeria and Atalanta winger Ademola Lookman is going to win the award and that's because I feel he's had a better year than the other nominees but considering the contributions and achievements of Brahim Diaz this year, I feel he should've at least made the final shortlist.
What's your opinion about the finalists? Do you think they deserve to be there or is there any name you think is missing? Let me read your views.

Whoever supports Brahim Diaz <<<<<< as I don't think he should have merited the five man shortlist. Its not just about achievement but also your work rate. Now tell me, what did he di fir Real Madrid to win the league and champions league? Hakim did well with assist for PSG,  Serhou did for Stuttgart last season,  Lookman did for 9ja and Atalanta same for Adigra who did with Brighton but can say same for that goalie. Is he shortlisted because of that penalties saved? Lmao!

[Lida93]

Few hours ago, Confederation of African Football (CAF) announced the finalists for this year's African best player award and surprisingly to me Real Madrid and Morocco forward Brahim Diaz didn't make the shortlist. My prediction from the moment CAF first published the nominees for the award this year have been that Nigeria and Atalanta winger Ademola Lookman is going to win the award and that's because I feel he's had a better year than the other nominees but considering the contributions and achievements of Brahim Diaz this year, I feel he should've at least made the final shortlist.
What's your opinion about the finalists? Do you think they deserve to be there or is there any name you think is missing? Let me read your views.

Whoever supports Brahim Diaz <<<<<< as I don't think he should have merited the five man shortlist. Its not just about achievement but also your work rate. Now tell me, what did he di fir Real Madrid to win the league and champions league? Hakim did well with assist for PSG,  Serhou did for Stuttgart last season,  Lookman did for 9ja and Atalanta same for Adigra who did with Brighton but can say same for that goalie. Is he shortlisted because of that penalties saved? Lmao!

Very true mate, I think you are spot on by all you said here, all the players that were in the final shortlist are there on merit, I never expected Brahim Diaz to be among in the first place because he made no much impact in that Madrid team as the other players in their respective clubs and country alike. I believe that the organizers of this award made the right decision by excluding him from the final shortlist.

Then as for the potential winner, I would bet on Ademola Lookman to win it this year, because he has the most success this year than the rest of the other guys, and his present form speak volume why he is the most worthy candidate among them all, so I will bet on him winning it.

[Frankolala]

Few hours ago, Confederation of African Football (CAF) announced the finalists for this year's African best player award and surprisingly to me Real Madrid and Morocco forward Brahim Diaz didn't make the shortlist. My prediction from the moment CAF first published the nominees for the award this year have been that Nigeria and Atalanta winger Ademola Lookman is going to win the award and that's because I feel he's had a better year than the other nominees but considering the contributions and achievements of Brahim Diaz this year, I feel he should've at least made the final shortlist.
What's your opinion about the finalists? Do you think they deserve to be there or is there any name you think is missing? Let me read your views.

Whoever supports Brahim Diaz <<<<<< as I don't think he should have merited the five man shortlist. Its not just about achievement but also your work rate. Now tell me, what did he di fir Real Madrid to win the league and champions league? Hakim did well with assist for PSG,  Serhou did for Stuttgart last season,  Lookman did for 9ja and Atalanta same for Adigra who did with Brighton but can say same for that goalie. Is he shortlisted because of that penalties saved? Lmao!

Very true mate, I think you are spot on by all you said here, all the players that were in the final shortlist are there on merit, I never expected Brahim Diaz to be among in the first place because he made no much impact in that Madrid team as the other players in their respective clubs and country alike. I believe that the organizers of this award made the right decision by excluding him from the final shortlist.

Then as for the potential winner, I would bet on Ademola Lookman to win it this year, because he has the most success this year than the rest of the other guys, and his present form speak volume why he is the most worthy candidate among them all, so I will bet on him winning it.

Of course, Ademola Lookman has the most outstanding performance amongst them all and he deserves winning it. Lookman is always contributing to the success of Atalanta in all their matches. Diaz name shouldn't be on the ist because he is not among Madrid first eleven and contributes very little to their progress since he always come from the bench.

[Rruchi man]

It’s no secret that local coaches are paid less than foreign managers. The players are more bigger than the managers, that’s why the players do not respect local coaches because they know the coaches job is not secure and can be replace by a average foreign coach.

I really do not believe that players can be very disrespectful to local coaches and that the local coach, who is the manager of the team, tolerates it. Respect should not be as a result of pay grade; some of these footballers earn more than their club coaches, but they still show their maximum respect because these coaches have positioned themselves in the manner that the command respect. Any local coach should command respect.

If any player disrespects you, regardless of the player's status, keep them out of the team. I don't think there is any player in the team aside from Lookman that is indespensable, and I don't see Lookman as someone in that line to be disrespectful.

[Josefjix]

It should be a rubbery if he doesn't win but I believe CAF will do the right thing. My concern is more on the best goalie, how's Onana in the top 3 and Nwabali isn't on the list. That's absolutely rubbish from CAF.

I'm not saying he deserve to win as there were better performances from the others in the list but he should have been among the final shortlist and not Onana. Onana was very awful for the period the goalie performances were being considered.

Lookman performance this season should be putting him in another CAF best debate for the net award as I see only Mo sahal giving him a tough battle.

Onana's inclusion was simply PR for someone who disrespected the competition and was dropped from the first IX, had one of the worst seasons at Manutd, and I'm sure Onana himself will be surprised to have made it to the the top 3 on that finalist. It only exposed the amount of corruption in CAF because the criteria given prioritized AFCON performance over club performance and achievements. The South African goalkeeper will undoubtedly win, but Nwabali was literally the second best goalkeeper in the tournament and the best in his league.. deserved to be there.

I won't be surprised if Lookman is not given the Award, the level of inconsistency and corruption is already visible.

[Fiatless]

It’s no secret that local coaches are paid less than foreign managers. The players are more bigger than the managers, that’s why the players do not respect local coaches because they know the coaches job is not secure and can be replace by a average foreign coach.

I really do not believe that players can be very disrespectful to local coaches and that the local coach, who is the manager of the team, tolerates it. Respect should not be as a result of pay grade; some of these footballers earn more than their club coaches, but they still show their maximum respect because these coaches have positioned themselves in the manner that the command respect. Any local coach should command respect.

If any player disrespects you, regardless of the player's status, keep them out of the team. I don't think there is any player in the team aside from Lookman that is indespensable, and I don't see Lookman as someone in that line to be disrespectful.

Any player who doesn't respect his coach should not be part of the team. Even in Europe and America, players earn more than their national team coaches, yet they still respect the coach. Disrespectful players are usually sanctioned until they apologize or become humble. I don also think that local coaches will be disrespected by players because of their earning. We have had some mo nonsense local coaches like Stephen Keshi and Sunday Oliseh, who don't tolerate nonsense from players who misbehaves.

I don't even think that Ademola Lookman is indispensable. Nigeria is blessed with many talented players who can replace any one who wants to abuse the opportunity or privilege to represent their fatherland. Coaches might be rightly disrespected if they start engaging in criminal activities like bribery, tribalism or nepotism.

[Abbatty]

It should be a rubbery if he doesn't win but I believe CAF will do the right thing. My concern is more on the best goalie, how's Onana in the top 3 and Nwabali isn't on the list. That's absolutely rubbish from CAF.

I'm not saying he deserve to win as there were better performances from the others in the list but he should have been among the final shortlist and not Onana. Onana was very awful for the period the goalie performances were being considered.

Lookman performance this season should be putting him in another CAF best debate for the net award as I see only Mo sahal giving him a tough battle.

Onana's inclusion was simply PR for someone who disrespected the competition and was dropped from the first IX, had one of the worst seasons at Manutd, and I'm sure Onana himself will be surprised to have made it to the the top 3 on that finalist. It only exposed the amount of corruption in CAF because the criteria given prioritized AFCON performance over club performance and achievements. The South African goalkeeper will undoubtedly win, but Nwabali was literally the second best goalkeeper in the tournament and the best in his league.. deserved to be there.

I won't be surprised if Lookman is not given the Award, the level of inconsistency and corruption is already visible.

If not the whole world but the whole of Africa is shock by the inclusion of Onana in the top 3 goalies and not including Nwabali. Everyone would agree that Nwabali was the best goalkeeper in Afcon and also did very much at the club level, during the Afcon he made some crucial save and even penalties to keep Nigeria in the. Tournament upto the final where they lost to the host Côte d'Ivoir. If CAF should continue like this with making bad decisions I will say that they will loose their value and relevance. We know you can't always have the best sesosn in football always but the season you are at your best you should be recognized for it.

I think Lookman have proof beyond reasonable doubt that he deserves the African player of the year, he was in a great foam last season leading Atalanta to winning the Europa league last season and he has also continued in the same foam this season. Lookman his having the best time of his life in the football world right now and the world can say he deserves to be the African player of the year.

[Marvelockg]

Of course, Ademola Lookman has the most outstanding performance amongst them all and he deserves winning it. Lookman is always contributing to the success of Atalanta in all their matches. Diaz name shouldn't be on the ist because he is not among Madrid first eleven and contributes very little to their progress since he always come from the bench.

with lookmams current form, it's becoming more impossible to see the possibility of any of the current names on the list coming to win the African best ahead of him. This is already a contest that is dead on arrival and I'm even looking at a possibility of him doing it back to back after this edition if he continues in this his form for a longer period of time.

The only area where he and any Nigerian that hopes to make it well in terms of winning the the African best is to work towards getting Nigeria to qualify for most of the major tournament. If they do well at the country level, winning African best player of the year will start to look like a Nigerian property. For this edition, any other name apart from lookman is going to be a worse rubbery than what people are talking about Rodri winnñg the balon d'or over vini jnr.

[Fiatless]

Of course, Ademola Lookman has the most outstanding performance amongst them all and he deserves winning it. Lookman is always contributing to the success of Atalanta in all their matches. Diaz name shouldn't be on the ist because he is not among Madrid first eleven and contributes very little to their progress since he always come from the bench.

with lookmams current form, it's becoming more impossible to see the possibility of any of the current names on the list coming to win the African best ahead of him. This is already a contest that is dead on arrival and I'm even looking at a possibility of him doing it back to back after this edition if he continues in this his form for a longer period of time.

The only area where he and any Nigerian that hopes to make it well in terms of winning the the African best is to work towards getting Nigeria to qualify for most of the major tournament. If they do well at the country level, winning African best player of the year will start to look like a Nigerian property. For this edition, any other name apart from lookman is going to be a worse rubbery than what people are talking about Rodri winnñg the balon d'or over vini jnr.

Ademola Lookman should win this award without much hesitation. The Nigerian is performing well both for his country and club. He is the most important player on Atalanta and the Super Eagle fans see him as the most important player.

CAF will receive more attacks than the organizers of the Ballon d Or if he doesn't win the award. Some sports pundits are claiming that Vinicius Junior lost the award because of his unruly behavior on and off the pitch. Everybody knows that Lookman is a well behaved player, therefore there is no reason to deny him the award.

[CryptoHeadlineNews]

I think the NFF should have given Augustine Eguaveon more time, at least so as to not disrupt the team's preparation for the World Cup. I don’t think Augustine Eguaveon is the the main cause of the Super Eagles  poor form in the AFCON Qualifiers. I think the blame should go to the players. They didn't show any sign of seriousness in the way they played, it seems they were forced or begged to come and play for their country. Playing for your country is a thing of joy and whenever you put on your country colour. I will suggest the NFF should watch out for home grown players who are eager and ready to play for their country instead of calling up players that feel that they are bigger than the national team.

You made a valid point on what you just said above, because when it comes to the issue about the Super Eagles, all parties are to be blame about their poor performance, ranging from the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), the coach and the entire players, because the truth of the fact is that our Super Eagles can never have it right if they keep on changing coaches the way it seems they are doing, because there was a news article I came across few weeks ago about Augustine Aguoveon emphasizing how he was only given just 3 matches to officiate and quit (Nigeria vs Rwanda, Benin Libya and vice-versa), of which for me, I think he would have done a better job if he was given enough time to officiate more game with these boys in the entire 2025 AFCON Games. But however, let's see who the next Coach will be, as we hope to see the best.

[Salahmu]

I don't even think that Ademola Lookman is indispensable. Nigeria is blessed with many talented players who can replace any one who wants to abuse the opportunity or privilege to represent their fatherland. Coaches might be rightly disrespected if they start engaging in criminal activities like bribery, tribalism or nepotism.

Nobody is indispensable in a club no matter your football status because if a coach who knows what he is doing saw a player abusing the privilege the team gave him he would be definitely thrown away to prove to him that other players can also do better, however as for Ademola Lookman the super eagle will shake a lot without him because he is an important player and besides I see him as a very humble player who does not see himself as an indispensable player because if he does that alot of people who normally see him differently will be seeing him as a player with too much pride.

[EL MOHA]

You made a valid point on what you just said above, because when it comes to the issue about the Super Eagles, all parties are to be blame about their poor performance, ranging from the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), the coach and the entire players, because the truth of the fact is that our Super Eagles can never have it right if they keep on changing coaches the way it seems they are doing, because there was a news article I came across few weeks ago about Augustine Aguoveon emphasizing how he was only given just 3 matches to officiate and quit (Nigeria vs Rwanda, Benin Libya and vice-versa), of which for me, I think he would have done a better job if he was given enough time to officiate more game with these boys in the entire 2025 AFCON Games. But however, let's see who the next Coach will be, as we hope to see the best.

I can’t agree less with you, changing of coaches has seriously affected the Nigeria national team, the entire NFF board have been too focused on the this coaching aspect that even the key things look into are just abandoned. For me it is not right, if they wish to settle with a local coach they should do that fast and if they wish to settle to a foreign coach they should stick to one. Since the sack of Grant Rohr the country has had more than four interim and permanent managers and still yet to get it right, We as a nation have only done better when the manager stayed for long look at Keshi and Rohr we never had qualification issues.

Giving managers short terms are just waste of resources and doesn’t solve any problem. A look at Manchester u united will tell us it is not the right thing to do. Focus on one and rebuild and give them time, getting a good team from this set of talented but inconsistent players is going to be hard

[Doan9269]

Few hours ago, Confederation of African Football (CAF) announced the finalists for this year's African best player award and surprisingly to me Real Madrid and Morocco forward Brahim Diaz didn't make the shortlist. My prediction from the moment CAF first published the nominees for the award this year have been that Nigeria and Atalanta winger Ademola Lookman is going to win the award and that's because I feel he's had a better year than the other nominees but considering the contributions and achievements of Brahim Diaz this year, I feel he should've at least made the final shortlist.
What's your opinion about the finalists? Do you think they deserve to be there or is there any name you think is missing? Let me read your views.

As for me, i will support the judgment made by them, they have made the right nomination and for the finalist, this is not ours to judge, each player has their own place of rank and the indicator they used to mark them out for unique opportunities like this, i want to believe, this is not a single man judgment, they have their CAF cabinet responsible for the judgment of related nominations like this and they also have the way of engaging the public opinions before drawing a conclusion on whom they are picking for nomination.

[Josefjix]

Ademola Lookman should win this award without much hesitation. The Nigerian is performing well both for his country and club. He is the most important player on Atalanta and the Super Eagle fans see him as the most important player.

CAF will receive more attacks than the organizers of the Ballon d Or if he doesn't win the award. Some sports pundits are claiming that Vinicius Junior lost the award because of his unruly behavior on and off the pitch. Everybody knows that Lookman is a well behaved player, therefore there is no reason to deny him the award.

He's undoubtedly the frontrunner and fans' favorites. Let's hope the journalists and coaches do the right thing with their votes; it all depends on their vote at the end of the day. There are favorite winners for both the Player of the Year and Goalkeeper of the Year awards. It may have been a close vote if Nwabali had been nominated for goalkeeper category

[Rockstarguy]

Ademola Lookman should win this award without much hesitation. The Nigerian is performing well both for his country and club. He is the most important player on Atalanta and the Super Eagle fans see him as the most important player.

CAF will receive more attacks than the organizers of the Ballon d Or if he doesn't win the award. Some sports pundits are claiming that Vinicius Junior lost the award because of his unruly behavior on and off the pitch. Everybody knows that Lookman is a well behaved player, therefore there is no reason to deny him the award.

I believe the award would be given to Ademola Lookman because he is a very talented player that have contributed so well in the national team and his club Atalanta. I don't think anything else will be holding the award from him, I think he is the favourite for the award because he has been very consistent with his performance in home and his Club . For his impressive performance he deserves he deserves some award because I don't see anyone who deserves it more better than him. I believe this award will be different from that of Ballon d'Or because is a player of good performance and in characters.

[MainIbem]

Ademola Lookman should win this award without much hesitation. The Nigerian is performing well both for his country and club. He is the most important player on Atalanta and the Super Eagle fans see him as the most important player.

CAF will receive more attacks than the organizers of the Ballon d Or if he doesn't win the award. Some sports pundits are claiming that Vinicius Junior lost the award because of his unruly behavior on and off the pitch. Everybody knows that Lookman is a well behaved player, therefore there is no reason to deny him the award.

I believe the award would be given to Ademola Lookman because he is a very talented player that have contributed so well in the national team and his club Atalanta. I don't think anything else will be holding the award from him, I think he is the favourite for the award because he has been very consistent with his performance in home and his Club . For his impressive performance he deserves he deserves some award because I don't see anyone who deserves it more better than him. I believe this award will be different from that of Ballon d'Or because is a player of good performance and in characters.

From the five finalists, Ademola look is clearly the favourite to win the award, i mean he stands out among others, a player who finished as runners-up in the tournament, was one of the most outstanding in his team and tournament and even scored about 3 goals and created good chances for his teammates. Across Africa, he helped his club side Atlanta to win the Europa League against an inform Leverkusen that finished their league unbeaten and was still the most outstanding in the Europa league, without being sentimental, i think he deserves the title. Ademola has been on fire since last season and still brougt the form with him to this present season, as we can see he's still bagging goals for his club side and setting more records for himself, it would be very unfair if the Ballon d'Or goes to another person instead of him.

[Kavelj22]

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) announced on Thursday the final lists of candidates for its 2024 awards. The Moroccan city of Marrakech will host the CAF Best of Africa Awards ceremony next Monday.

Can they be done with this competition already and give the award to Lookman. I am tired of having this discussion linger. Any other player aside from Lookman winning the men's player category is a scam.

I agree with you that Lookman is the most deserving of the award and that no one can compete with him in that. Choosing one person by all parties may be easy to know the winner, but in Africa it reflects the decline in the levels of players in a way that we do not find real competition between close levels.

Unfortunately, these classifications may contradict expectations and may not be as fair as intended. The selected list will be subject to voting by the organizing committee and no one knows who the majority will choose.

[Spaceman1000$]

Few hours ago, Confederation of African Football (CAF) announced the finalists for this year's African best player award and surprisingly to me Real Madrid and Morocco forward Brahim Diaz didn't make the shortlist. My prediction from the moment CAF first published the nominees for the award this year have been that Nigeria and Atalanta winger Ademola Lookman is going to win the award and that's because I feel he's had a better year than the other nominees but considering the contributions and achievements of Brahim Diaz this year, I feel he should've at least made the final shortlist.
What's your opinion about the finalists? Do you think they deserve to be there or is there any name you think is missing? Let me read your views.

Whoever supports Brahim Diaz <<<<<< as I don't think he should have merited the five man shortlist. Its not just about achievement but also your work rate. Now tell me, what did he di fir Real Madrid to win the league and champions league? Hakim did well with assist for PSG,  Serhou did for Stuttgart last season,  Lookman did for 9ja and Atalanta same for Adigra who did with Brighton but can say same for that goalie. Is he shortlisted because of that penalties saved? Lmao!

Very true mate, I think you are spot on by all you said here, all the players that were in the final shortlist are there on merit, I never expected Brahim Diaz to be among in the first place because he made no much impact in that Madrid team as the other players in their respective clubs and country alike. I believe that the organizers of this award made the right decision by excluding him from the final shortlist.

Then as for the potential winner, I would bet on Ademola Lookman to win it this year, because he has the most success this year than the rest of the other guys, and his present form speak volume why he is the most worthy candidate among them all, so I will bet on him winning it.

Of course, Ademola Lookman has the most outstanding performance amongst them all and he deserves winning it. Lookman is always contributing to the success of Atalanta in all their matches. Diaz name shouldn't be on the ist because he is not among Madrid first eleven and contributes very little to their progress since he always come from the bench.

This is another round of African best footballer of the year Award which will be determined by the impact of the player on European achievements instead of their impact on Africa competition's.
CAF needs to come up with a holistic approach on how to check the players both the ones at the local League and those playing in Europe, because looking at the finalist, they are all European base footballers,  this goes to show that our local League does not contribute in any way in bringing up good players that deserve this kind of award, instead we rely on Europe based Statistics to give an African award.

[snipie]

This is another round of African best footballer of the year Award which will be determined by the impact of the player on European achievements instead of their impact on Africa competition's.
CAF needs to come up with a holistic approach on how to check the players both the ones at the local League and those playing in Europe, because looking at the finalist, they are all European base footballers,  this goes to show that our local League does not contribute in any way in bringing up good players that deserve this kind of award, instead we rely on Europe based Statistics to give an African award.

Unfortunately, it is not only due to the absence of statistics because there is other players playing in non European leagues but they aren't that good comparing to their European counterparts.
African countries leagues are mostly under expectations with a lot of problems, whether related to the lack of money, investment, defaulting the wage of players, poor infrastructure...all these conditions will make good players leave to better leagues in Europe and leave their domestic teams with ordinary players that are way below expectations.

[Fiatless]

This is another round of African best footballer of the year Award which will be determined by the impact of the player on European achievements instead of their impact on Africa competition's.
CAF needs to come up with a holistic approach on how to check the players both the ones at the local League and those playing in Europe, because looking at the finalist, they are all European base footballers,  this goes to show that our local League does not contribute in any way in bringing up good players that deserve this kind of award, instead we rely on Europe based Statistics to give an African award.

Mahmoud Ibrahim Ibrahim El Khatib won the award as a local based player but foreign based players dominated the award. North African local leagues are the best in Africa in terms of quality, organization and players's earnings. But I suspect that since after the Arab Spring the quality has reduced. Until African local leagues become well organized and receive the right attention, the player who plays abroad will always win the award. CAF will not overlook players who are making waves on a well packaged league and focus on an African league that has low standards.