The Confederation of African Football published on Thursday the list of nominees for the different categories of the CAF Awards, which will be awarded on December 16 in Marrakech, Morocco. Winner of the CAN at home on February 11, Ivory Coast is obviously in a good position to win several distinctions.
On the 7 award categories awarded for the male category, the Ivorians are present in 5, with the club of the year and the interclub player of the year serving as exceptions. Two titles already seem promised to the Elephants. On the one hand, that of national selection of the yearwhich would only be just reward after the coronation won at home at the CAN at the end of a Hitchcockian scenario. On the other hand, the one coach of the yearwhich should not escape Emerse Faé, great architect of the resurrection of the Elephants from the round of 16.
2 almost reserved rewards… what next?
If these two titles are considered almost acquired, on the other hand the battle promises to be closer for the other three. We can even already consider that Simon Adingra, despite his decisive role in the CAN journey and the panache that he shows every weekend with Brighton (often when coming into play), will not be designated African Player of the Year.
He also had a good CAN, including a penalty saved in the quarter-finals against Mali, but Yahia Fofana should not finish either best goalkeeperfor the simple reason that the South African Ronwen Williams crushed the competition.
A little hope for the title of Young Player of the Year?
There remains the title, a little more open, of best young where Ivory Coast is doubly represented by Karim Konaté and Oumar Diakité. The fact remains that Konaté, despite his status as top scorer in the Austrian championship last season (20 goals), starts from afar due to his status as a substitute or even not called up for the selection (no goals in 2024).
Author of 4 goals with Selefanto in 2024, including the decisive one against Mali in the round of 16 of the CAN, and 5 club goals with Reims, Diakité leaves with better chances, but the competition embodied by the Moroccan Eliesse Ben Seghir and the Senegalese holder Lamine Camara promises to be very tough.
In other words, if the African champion has already almost “reserved” two awards, it may be more difficult for him to hope to win more…
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