The best in Africa, Barbra and Ademola
* 24-year-old Barbra was a worthy winner after a stunning year in which she showcased her quality for club and country at some of the biggest stages in the women’s game
* As Ademola Lookman became the 7th Nigerian to win the CAF men’s category while South African Ronwen Williams is crowned Africa’s Best Goalkeeper
* After he played a pivotal role in South Africa’s 3rd place podium finish at the Africa Cup of Nations (AfCON) Côte d’Ivoire 2023
Maravi Express
Barbra Banda became the first Zambian footballer since Kalusha Bwalya in 1988 to win an African Player of the Year award after she claimed the women’s prize of the CAF Awards 2024 held in Marrakech, Morocco last night.
The great Kalu
The men’s category was won by Ademola Lookman, who became the 7th Nigerian to win the CAF men’s category while South African Ronwen Williams is crowned Africa’s Best Goalkeeper after he played a pivotal role in South Africa’s 3rd place podium finish at the Africa Cup of Nations (AfCON) Côte d’Ivoire 2023.
The 24-year-old Barbra was a worthy winner after a stunning year in which she showcased her quality for club and country to a watching world on some of the biggest stages in the women’s game.
“I feel great, it is something I have been working hard for to be here,” Banda is quoted as saying by CAFonline. “Last time round I did not win but this time I made it, which makes me feel great and amazing.”
She was initially nominated in the top five alongside Malawian sensational sisters, Tabitha and Temwa Chawinga but the sisters were voted out in the final three, leaving her to contest against Sanna Mssoudy from Morroco and Chiamaka Nnadozie from Nigeria.
Tabitha
This is the 6th time for Tabitha to miss out the coveted for award despite some phenomenon attributes of the player in which she etched a niche in women’s football to win the Golden Boot in three of her host countries — Sweden, China and Italy.
But it is all to the fact that she has played very little in contributing to her country in which she has twice missed the Scorchers performance, winning the COSAFA Women’s Championship 2023 as well as in 2024 where the team failed to defend the title after being beaten by Zambia.
Barbra also missed out the COSAFA Women’s Championship 2024 which the Copper Queens won but it was her performance at the Paris Olympics 2024 that earned her the accolade.
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She scored a hat-trick for Zambia at the Olympics 2024, which was her third in Olympic Games football and an all-time record in the competition — elevating her to among the greats to have played the game.
Barbra also became the first player from Africa to be included in the FIFPRO Women’s World XI in 2024 after she also took by storm the 2024 National Women’s Soccer League season in the United States as she helped Orlando Pride to the NWSL Shield and Championship, scoring the decisive goal in the final against Washington Spirit.
At the winner’s podium yesterday, Barbra said the secret to her exploits “is just training hard and paying attention to what you are doing” and she offered advice to aspiring young women footballer “not to look down on themselves but to keep working hard and be determined and disciplined [as] hard work always pays off”.
Her memorable exploits during the Paris Olympic Games, came after her two brilliant previous performances in Japan three years earlier.
After four successful years at Shanghai Shengli in China, she made a fresh start by joining Orlando Pride in the United States this year, becoming the second most expensive player in women’s football history.
At her age, and with her obvious quality, Barbra has the potential to develop into a great of the local game and should be in the discussions for the FIFA awards in the future.
Meanwhile, Ademola Lookman deserved the reward for some of his stunning form for club and country over the past 12 months by the striker of the Italian side, Atalanta.
The 27-year-old follows in the footsteps of compatriot Victor Osimhen, who claimed the award in 2023 as they became the first back-to-back Nigerian winners since Nwankwo Kanu (1996) and Victor Ikpeba (1997).
“It is an incredible achievement and an incredible moment,” Lookman said at the winner’s podium. “It is special to join a list of many great players who have achieved a lot in the game. They are legends.
“There are a lot of special moments that happened this year, I can speak about a lot of good moments. But also the bad moments, when you don’t want to do gym, but you end up doing that session and that gives you more strength. The difficult moments have given me that extra strength.
“For us to be able to give inspiration to the young kids who want to be like us is the most important thing. If we can set a good example, they have good footsteps to follow.”
Lookman has been in the form of his life in 2024, helping turn his Italian Serie A side Atalanta into title contenders and taking them to a UEFA Europa League trophy win, a first major piece of silverware for the club in 61 years.
He scored a hat-trick in the decider as Atalanta became the only team in the 2023-24 campaign to inflict a defeat on German Bundesliga outfit Bayer Leverkusen as the forward provided one of the great final displays in European football history.
Lookman also helped Nigeria to the final of the AfCON Côte d’Ivoire 2023, where they lost to the hosts. His displays, and three goals, did not go unnoticed as he was named in the Team of the Tournament.
South African national team captain, Ronwen Williams was crowned the best goalkeeper on the continent after the 32-year-old Williams played a pivotal at the AfCON Côte d’Ivoire 2023 as being duly recognised for his remarkable performance for both club and country.
Williams’ superb saves in Côte d’Ivoire 2023 and rich vein of form at club level also saw him nominated for the Ballon d’Or earlier this year, which was historic for African football for a player to make the short list while playing for an African club.
The Bafana Bafana skipper was a pivotal cog in Mamelodi Sundowns’ recent back-to-back titles since joining the club — a feat that elevated his place in the national team to being the number one goalkeeper.
Williams’ acrobatic and penalty saves also came to the fore in the third-place play-off against DR Congo where he saved two penalties to help Bafana Bafana to a podium finish that was accompanied by him being voted the Goalkeeper of the Tournament at the continental showpiece.
The great Ronwen Williams
Nigeria’s Chiamaka Nnadozie claimed the women’s Goalkeeper of the Year award for the second year in a row having had another outstanding season for French side Paris FC, where she was named Première Ligue Goalkeeper of the Season for 2023-24.
AS FAR and Morocco international forward Sanaâ Mssoudy won the women’s Interclub Player of the Year having claimed the Best Player award at the 2024 CAF Women’s Champions League.
Lamine Camara of Senegal and Monaco was the men’s Young Player of the Year as the versatile box-to-box midfielder shone for club and country with his dynamic displays.
Doha El Madani of AS FAR and Morocco won the women’s Young Player of the Year as the 19-year-old secured the Golden Boot at the 2024 CAF Women’s Champions League with six goals in five matches.
The men’s Coach of the Year went to Emerse Fae after he led Côte d’Ivoire from the brink of elimination to AfCON title on home soil in one of the great global sports stories of 2024.
Coach Emerse Fae
Moroccan tactician Lamia Boumehdi was named women’s Coach of the Year as she led TP Mazembe from the DR Congo to the 2024 CAF Women’s Champions League title with a win over AS FAR in the decider.
Cote d’Ivoire’s continental crown saw them named men’s National Team of the Year, while Nigeria’s Super Falcons were the women’s National Team of the Year.
Al Ahly’s fourth CAF Champions League win in five years made them worthy winners of men’s Club of the Year, while TP Mazembe took home the women’s category.
Goal of the Year was won by Angola’s Mabululu for his audacious finish against Namibia at the continental finals in Côte d’Ivoire, which was the only award voted for by fans.—Content by CAFonline; edited by Duncan Mlanjira, Maravi Express
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