Uganda Cranes captain Denis Onyango is one of the three players shortlisted for two honours at the CAF Awards due January 4 in Accra, Ghana.
The Mamelodi Sundowns’ shot-stopper is part of two 30-man lists for the second year running for the Africa Player of the Year and the Africa Player of the Year based in Africa. Striker Geoffrey Sserunkuma is also nominee on the latter award, which was won by Onyango early this year.
Onyango featured at the Africa Cup of Nations in Gabon as Uganda took part in the competition for the first time in 39 years. However, Cranes only picked a point from a possible nine after a 1-1 draw with Mali. Onyango’s club Sundowns’ title Caf Champions League title defence ended in a 3-2 aggregate quarterfinal defeat to Morocco’s Wydad Casablanca. Onyango also notably kept a clean sheet as Uganda beat seven-time Africa champions Egypt for the first time in more than five decades during the 2018 Fifa World Cup Qualifiers. Meanwhile, Sserunkuma is nominated having struck 32 goals across all competitions for KCCA last season.
Sserunkuma, now at Buildcon FC in Zambia, was top-scorer with 21 goals as the club retained the Azam Uganda Premier League title. The veteran forward also won the Uganda Cup. But his contribution was more noticed by the continent after he struck four times in the preliminary rounds of CAF Champions League for KCCA. The shortlists will be trimmed a little further by Caf as the dates draw close to the annual awards.
African Player of the Year nominees
Ali Maaloul (Tunisia & Al Ahly), Bertrand Traore (Burkina Faso & Lyon), Cedric Bakambu (DR Congo & Villareal), Christian Atsu (Ghana & Newcastle), Christian Bassogog (Cameroon & Henan Jianye), Denis Onyango (Uganda & Mamelodi Sundowns), Eric Bailly (Cote d’Ivoire & Manchester United), Essam El Hadary (Egypt & Al Taawoun), Fabrice Ondoa (Cameroon & Sevilla), Fackson Kapumbu (Zambia & Zesco), Jean Michel Seri (Cote d’Ivoire & Nice), Junior Kabananga (DR Congo & Astana), Karim El Ahmadi (Morocco & Feyenoord), Keita Balde (Senegal & Monaco), Khalid Boutaib (Morocco & Yeni Malatyaspor), Mbwana Samata (Tanzania & Genk), Michael Olunga (Kenya & Girona), Mohamed Salah (Egypt & Liverpool), Moussa Marega (Mali & Porto), Naby Keita (Guinea & RB Leipzig), Percy Tau (South Africa & Mamelodi Sundowns), Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Gabon & Borussia Dortmund), Sadio Mane (Senegal & Liverpool), Thomas Partey (Ghana & Atletico Madrid), Victor Moses (Nigeria & Chelsea), Vincent Aboubakar (Cameroon & Porto), William Troost-Ekong (Nigeria & Bursaspor), Yacine Brahimi (Algeria & Porto), Youssef Msakni (Tunisia & Al Duhail), Yves Bissouma (Mali & Lille)
African Player of the Year - Based in Africa
Achraf Bencharki (Morocco & Wydad Athletic Club), Ahmed Fathi (Egypt & Al Ahly)
Alkhaly Bangoura (Guinea & Etoile du Sahel), Ali Maaloul (Tunisia & Al Ahly)
Aristide Bance (Burkina Faso & Al Masry) Ayman Majid (Morocco & FUS Rabat)
Aymen Mathlouthi (Tunisia & Etoile du Sahel), Ben Malango (DR Congo & TP Mazembe)
Dean Furman (South Africa & Supersport United), Denis Onyango (Uganda & Mamelodi Sundowns), Elsamani Saadeldin (Sudan & Al Merreikh), Fackson Kapumbu (Zambia & Zesco), Fawzi Chaouchi (Algeria & MC Alger), Geoffrey Serunkuma (Uganda & KCCA), Jeremy Brockie (New Zealand & Supersport), Junior Ajayi (Nigeria & Al Ahly), Karim Aouadhi (Tunisia & CS Sfaxien), Mohamed Meftah (Algeria & USM Alger), Mohamed Ounnajem (Morocco & Wydad Athletic Club), Muaid Ellafi (Libya & Ahly Tripoli), Nasr Eldin Ahmed (Sudan & Hilal Obeid), Oussama Darfalou (Algeria & USM Alger), Percy Tau (South Africa & Mamelodi Sundowns), Sabelo Ndzinisa (Swaziland & Mbabane Swallows), Saber Khalifa (Tunisia & Club Africain), Saladin Said (Ethiopia & Saint George), Sylvain Gbohouo (Cote d’Ivoire & TP Mazembe), Tady Etekiama (DR Congo & AS Vita), Taha Yassine Khenissi (Tunisia & Esperance), Tarek Hamed (Egypt & Zamalek)
This writer is a scribe with Daily Monitor Newspaper and, also a sports presenter with NBS Television and Radio One FM 90 in Kampala. Follow him on Twitter: @AllanDarren and his Facebook Page: Darren Allan Kyeyune