Sadio Mane Crowned Africa's Football King

Senegal's Sadio Mane has been crowned the Confederation of African Football's (Caf) Player of the Year. 

The excellent forward who plies his trade with Liverpool Football Club scooped the award ahead of his teammate Mo Salah, who had won the award in the previous two years and Algeria's Riyad Mahrez. 

Mane amassed a total of 477 votes while Salah had 325 votes. Mahrez, who plays for Manchester City, had 267 votes. 

Accepting the award in Hurgada, Egypt, Mane said, "To be honest I would love to be playing football more than speaking in front of many important people. Football is my job - I love it. I'm really happy and really proud at the same time to win this award." 

"I would like to thank my family, especially my uncle who is here today, and my national and Liverpool team-mates, staff, everybody. 

"It is a big day for me. I would love to thank all the Senegalese people. They pushed me. I'm from a very small village, Bambali, I'm sure they are all watching me on TV."

Sadio Mane has been Liverpool's darling after helping the team lift the Champions League title for the 2018-2019 season. 

As it stands, Mane has scored 15 goals in 2019-2020. His performances in the the 2019-2020 Premier League season has been stellar and exhilarating, and Liverpool are 13 points clear at the top of the Premier League table.

Neither Salah nor Mahrez were present at the awards ceremony in Egypt, but Mahrez put up a tweet saying, "Congratulations to Sadio for his trophy well deserved 🙏🏼 and sorry I couldn't come but I had to start scoring for the 2020 trophy 😘😂 see you next year inch'Allah 🇩🇿 #CAFAwards2019."

Last year, Mane was very instrumental in helping Senegal reach the final of the Africa Cup of Nations where they eventually lost to Mahrez's Algeria 1-0. 

Meanwhile, Algeria has been named the Men's Team of the Year. 

Djamel Belmadi  took Men's Coach of the Year. 

At the end of the 2018-19 season, Mane clinched the Premier League Golden Boot Award. He was also crucial as Liverpool scooped the  FIFA Club World Cup for the first time. 

Mane has been exceptional at what he does, and the 27-year old continues to scale greater heights while retaining his humble self. He thoroughly deserves the accolade.

Here is Africa's Best XI: Andre Onana (Ajax/Cameroon), Achraf Hakimi (Borussia Dortmund/Morocco), Kalidou Koulibaly (Napoli/Senegal), Joel Matip (Liverpool/Cameroon), Serge Aurier (Tottenham/Ivory Coast), Riyad Mahrez (Manchester City/Algeria), Idrissa Gana Gueye (Paris St-Germain/Senegal), Hakim Ziyech (Ajax/Morocco), Mohamed Salah (Liverpool/Egypt), Sadio Mane (Liverpool/Senegal), Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Arsenal/Gabon. 

Header image credit - talksport