Five African Stars Make Ballon d’Or Shortlist

Five African players have been nominated for the prestigious Ballon d’Or trophy by France Football, the most ever in the history of the award.
France Football has named their short-list of 30 candidates, with seven coming from English Premier League side, Liverpool and another five from Manchester City.
Senegal forward, Sadio Mane and his Liverpool teammate, Mo Salah of Egypt, have both been nominated and will be among the front-runners having helped The Reds to the UEFA Champions League trophy last season.
Algerian midfielder, Riyad Mahrez from City is also in the running, along with Napoli and Ivory Coast defender, Kalidou Koulibaly and Gabon forward, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who plays for Arsenal.
There are also the usual suspects in Barcelona forward, Lionel Messi and Juventus’ Cristiano Ronaldo, and the Dutch quintet of Virgil van Dyk, Georginio Wijnaldum, Frenkie de Jong, Donny van de Beek and Matthijs de Ligt.
There are also some notable absentees, Brazilian Neymar, Luka Modric of Croatia, Frenchman Paul Pogba and Uruguay’s Luis Suarez all did not make the list.
The vote for the winner will take place among 180 journalists picked from all over the world.
Meanwhile, Nigeria international, Samuel Chukwueze is among the 10 nominees for the 2019 Kopa Trophy, France Football also revealed on Monday.
Presented to the best under-21 player in world football, the Kopa Trophy is only in its second year of existence.
France international, Kylian Mbappe was the first winner of the award with Christian Pulisic and Justin Kluivert finishing second and third respectively.
Chukwueze forms part of a star-studded list of players who all currently ply their trade across Europe with Jadon Sancho and Matthijs de Ligt, the two favourites to win the accolade.
With 10 goals and four assists across all competitions last season, Chukwueze burst onto the scene with Spanish LaLiga club, Villarreal.
The 20-year-old carried that form into the current campaign, duly attracting interest from some of the continent’s top clubs.