Sadio Mane has been named the third best player from Africa, behind Riyad Mahrez and runner-up Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
Riyad Mahrez is the African Player of the Year, collecting 361 of the votes #GloCAFAwards2016 pic.twitter.com/12s7BMsGRc
— CAF (@CAF_Online) January 5, 2017
Liverpool’s Senegalese summer signing was also included in the African Team of the Year, with results announced at Thursday’s awards ceremony.
Africa’s Finest XI #GloCAFAwards2016 pic.twitter.com/bxH4R6b7Aq
— CAF (@CAF_Online) January 5, 2017
Meanwhile, Europe’s Team of the Year was also announced on Thursday.
UEFA's Team of the year! pic.twitter.com/g9FcVdqUIp
— Football Stuff (@FootbalIStuff) January 5, 2017
There were no Premier League players in the star-studded UEFA XI, which is perhaps no surprise.
However, it is a complete joke that Liverpool legend Luis Suarez was not deemed worthy of one of the three striking slots on offer.
Unlike the African Team of the Year, which is based on nationality, the UEFA Team of the Year supposedly recognises the best players based in Europa, including those born in other continents.
Therefore Uruguayan Suarez was indeed eligible. His Barcelona teammate and fellow South American Lionel Messi got in, so why no Suarez?
Suarez scored 40 goals in 35 La Liga games last season, plus eight in nine Champions League matches, while Messi netted 26 in 33 in the league and six in seven in Europe.
The reason Suarez missed out must be because the former Anfield icon was not judged solely on his footballing credentials.
His historic biting charges coming back to, well, bite him, it seems.
Kind of makes a mockery of the event to leave out the best no.9 on the planet though.