Liverpool and Senegal forward Sadio Mane has expressed delight at winning the 2019 African Footballer of the year.
At a Ceremony held in Egypt, Mane beat Algerian Nations Cup winner Riyad Mahrez as well as his Liverpool teammate Mohammed Salah to the award.
After winning the award, a happy Mane who was instrumental for club and country in the year under review said “I’m really happy and proud to win this. Football is my job, I love it,” said Mane.
“I would like to thank my family, my national team, staff, the federation and Liverpool Football Club. It’s a big day for me.”
Mane collected his award at a ceremony in Hurghada, Egypt but neither Salah, who had won the award in both the past two years, nor Mahrez were present.
Mane has finished in the award’s top three for the last three years, and has long targeted the prize in order to emulate the achievement of one of his heroes, former Liverpool striker El Hadji Diouf, who won it in 2002.