9 Top African Stars Who Never Won CAF Player Of The Year Award

The CAF award is widely considered to be the greatest individual prize in African football.

It has been presented to some of the best African players in the history of the game.

But like most things that run for a long period of time, it has been shrouded in a fair bit of controversy and has been on the receiving end of a lot of criticism.

While some players have won the award multiple times, there are other great footballers who have never taken home the coveted prize despite proving to be worthy of it.

Sports Brief takes a look at greats who never won the Caf Player of the Year Award despite their brilliance and achievements in the game.

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Football

Benni McCarthy

McCarthy has 31 goals overall in international matches, making him South Africa's leading goal scorer.

He will always be remembered for his outstanding performances with FC Porto, where he won the UEFA Champions League in 2003–04 as the only South African to do so, under Jose Mourinho's guidance.

He debuted for Bafana Bafana in a friendly match against the Netherlands in 1997 and also led his country to the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France a year later.

Before the Mundial, McCarthy finished as the tournament's top scorer at the Nations Cup with 7 goals in Burkina Faso, where he scored 4 goals in just 13 minutes against Namibia. He was named the tournament's best player.

McCarthy will always be regarded as one of the greatest players to come out of Africa and his native country, so his legacy and accomplishments with the national team and clubs will be cherished.

Anthony Yeboah

The legendary Black Stars forward placed ninth in the 1993 Fifa Ballon d'Or, which Italy's Roberto Baggio won.

He also lost out to fellow countryman Abedi Pele on two occasions for the African Player of the Year award.

Yeboah gained a reputation for scoring spectacular goals that frequently appeared in Goal of the Month or Goal of the Season competitions.

He was regarded as one of the most prominent and prolific goal scorers in Ghanaian and African football history.

He made 59 outings for the Black Stars, notching 29 goals. He twice won the Bundesliga Golden Boot while playing for Eintracht Frankfurt, in 1992–1993 and 1993–1994 respectively.

Despite all of the aforementioned achievements, yet Yeboah couldn’t win the CAF award.

Ahmed Hassan

With over 184 caps for the Pharaohs, the four-time AFCON champion still holds the record for most male caps in history. His accomplishments are unlikely to be surpassed anytime soon.

Hassan represented Egypt in eight AFCON competitions; he captured the trophy four times (in 1998, 2006, 2008, and 2010). In the 2006 AFCON, when he helped Egypt win its second title and fifth overall, he was named the competition's best player.

He broke Hossam Hassan's appearance record by earning his 170th cap for Egypt in 2010 at the age of 34. He also holds the record for the most Africa Cup of Nations titles won by a player in history.

Many young Egyptian players will always aspire to achieve the former Egyptian captain's accomplishments and legacy for the Egyptian national team, but despite all of his successes, he fell short of winning the award.

Mohamed Aboutrika

Aboutrika greatness with the Egyptian national team continued when he won the AFCON in 2006 with the Pharaohs, and in the same year when he won the continent most prestigious title, Aboutrika was nominated by the Japanese newspaper to be one of the best players at the Fifa Club World Cup in Japan, and he also scored the winning goals at 2008 AFCON.

In 2006, Aboutrika was also nominated to win the 2006 Caf African Footballer of the year, along with then Barcelona forward Eto’o, and Chelsea’s Drogba among other nominees, during that time he was the only African based player nominated.

The Egyptian undoubted brilliant performance in that year made him a serious contender to win the gong, and critically the BBC award for African players, but in the end, he couldn’t win the prize but got the second position, and he went on to win the “Best Inter-club Player Award” and “Best Player in the CAF Champions League“.

Aboutrika also came second in 2008 behind Emmanuel Adebayor who was the CAF player of the year for that period, and in 2013 he was among the ten nominated players for the award, but he was crowned Africa based player of the year winning it for the third time winning in 2006 and 2008 respectively.

Seydou Keita

Despite winning three La Liga championships, two Copa del Reys, three Supercopas of Spain, and two Champions League crowns with Barcelona, Keita was defeated by Yaya Toure in 2011. The former Sevilla star made his international debut for Mali in 2000.

He also competed for Mali in six Africa Cup of Nations competitions, including the 2010 event held in Angola. Keita scored twice during the competition, but he and his team were unable to advance past the group stage.

Critically, many fans will remember Keita for what he did at the FIFA World Youth Championship in Nigeria in 1999 where he showed the world that he is a player for the future by winning the competition best player.

In 2011, Keita lost the CAF Player of the Year to Yaya Toure. Despite this, Keita will continue to be listed among the greats who, despite their great accomplishments, fail to receive the award.

Michael Essien

Despite his talent and his achievements for his club and, to a lesser extent, his country, the former Chelsea maestro was unable to take home a Caf award.

Essien was synonymous with his style of play with Lyon playing alongside playmaker Juninho and Mahamadou Diarra who later joined Real Madrid from the back of a good season.

In 2004, Essien helped Lyon in winning the league title for the third time in a row. In his final season with Lyon, he played in every match as Lyon won their fourth league championship.

He was named the 2005 Player of the Year by France’s National Union of Professional Footballers.

Essien shared the distinction of being the African footballer with the most consecutive nominations (5 times), along with Didier Drogba and Yaya Toure, but he never took home the prize.

Joseph-Antoine Bell

IFFHS recognises him as Africa’s greatest goalkeeper of the 20th century and was twice runner-up in the African Footballer of the Year award.

Bell had a stellar career that lasted for over 20 years. Strong and brave, he was also masterful as a sweeper keeper and played for the Indomitable Lions since 1977.

However, he didn't earn wider recognition until 1985, when he signed for Marseille. Three years at the Stade Vélodrome were followed by six more years in France with Toulon, Bordeaux, and Saint-Etienne.

Samuel Osei Kuffour

When he was still very active, the Ghanaian legend played more than 250 games for the Bavarians, winning 17 trophies in 12 years with the German team and being nominated for the 2001 Ballon d'Or, which was evidence of how good Sammy was.

In 1999 and 2001, respectively, Nwankwo Kanu and El-Hadji Diouf of Senegal defeated Kuffour for the title. Kuffour was named one of the top 30 African players of all time by the Confederation of African Football in 2007, but the former Bayern Munich defence captain was unable to win a single CAF championship.

What Kuffour did for football will always be cherished, especially by Bavarian fans, but it still astounds people that he didn't win the award despite all of his club's success.

Austin Jay-Jay Okocha

Saying that Okocha is one of the greatest players to have worn the Green and White jersey or played the round leather game in Africa, and a significant portion of the rest of the world, would be an understatement.

All Nigerian football fans will continue to remember his name, especially those who saw him play in 1996 with arguably the most successful Nigerian team at the Atlanta Olympics, where Nigeria defeated Argentina and Brazil to win gold.

The former Super Eagles midfield maestro was known for entertaining crowds with his signature dribbles and skills, and he will also be remembered for his exploit at the AFCON in 2000, where he shined like a million star which got him a standing ovation from the fans.

Okocha was the top scorer and Most Valuable Player at the 2004 AFCON and was also listed among the Fifa greatest 100 footballers, making him the unluckiest African star who failed to win the CAF award despite everything he stands for in Nigeria.