The 2022 CAF Awards were presented on Thursday, July 21, in Rabat, Morocco. On the continent, the football award is one of the most opulent athletic occasions.
At the famous CAF Awards 2022 in the Moroccan city of Rabat, the best footballers from the African continent were present as usual.
Tiwa Savage, a multi-award-winning Nigerian artist, performed brilliantly during the event to liven it up and ensure that there was enchantment in the air. David Adeleke, Popularly known as Davido was also spotted in Rabat.
Relive the Moment: Watch how it all happened.
Moroccan musician Asmaa Lamnawar performed on the said night, and it was closed by Magic System of Cote d’Ivoire and another musician.
Here on Futballnews, we are going to take you down the lane to relive the beautiful moment in Rabat, Morocco.
The evening began with attendees, football legends, and presenters arriving at the event in elegance.
The event started off at exactly 8 pm at the magnificent Mohammed VI Technical Centre, with guests, football legends, and lovers all seated in anticipation of an awesome night.
CAF 2022 Awards: How It Went Down
The first award was given to Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies FC, who won the Women’s Club of the Year title for their outstanding performance in the SAFA Women’s League in South Africa.
They edged off AS FAR (Morocco) and Hasaacas Ladies (Ghana) to win the category of the award.
Following that, Wydad AC won Club of the Year for the second time in a row after edging off Al Ahly (Egypt) and RS Berkane (Morocco).
Wydad Athletic Club, also known as Wydad AC or simply WAC, is a sports team from Morocco with its headquarters in Casablanca.
Evelyn Badu of the Ghana Women’s National Team won the Interclub Player of the Year (WOMEN), defeating Andile Dlamini (South Africa & Mamelodi Sundowns) and Bambanani Mbanie (South Africa & Mamelodi Sundowns).
Evelyn Badu, a football player from Ghana, competes for both the Ghana women’s national team and Norwegian club Avaldsnes IL as a midfielder.
Togolese professional footballer Emmanuel Adebayor and Nigerian superstar David Adedeji Adeleke, better known by his stage name Davido, came together at the ceremony to present Evelyn Badu of Ghana with the prize for “Young Female Footballer of the Year.”
After yet another stellar year, Mohamed El-Shenawy, the captain of Al Ahly, was formally awarded the 2022 CAF Interclub Player of the Year.
El Sayed Mohamed Goalkeeper Mohamed El Shenawy Gomaa represents both the Egyptian national team and Al Ahly in professional football. He joined Tala’ea El Gaish after being released by Al Ahly, where he had started his playing career as a young kid.
The club and Mohamed El-Shhenawy can find solace in winning the CAF Interclub Player of the Year title despite having a poor season.
Soon after, Pape Matar Sarr of Tottenham Hotspur won the 2022 award for Men’s Young Player of the Year.
Along with Ivory Coast center-back Karim Konate and Moroccan midfielder Hannibal Mejbri, he was included on the final three-man shortlist. The former represents RB Salzburg, while the latter competes for Manchester United.
Sarr finally took home the prize after a productive campaign with Senegal in the AFCON, where they won a trophy, and with Metz in Ligue 1. Sarr moved to Stade Municipal Saint-Symphorien on loan after moving to Metz in the summer of last year.
The central midfielder, who was 19 years old, played 33 times for Metz in the league but was unable to prevent their relegation to Ligue 2. He has returned to Tottenham and is prepared for the upcoming campaign.
The soon-to-be African Player of the Year (MEN) was captured on a happy note while taking some photographs and posing superbly in kings style as he made his way to the auditorium.
When Senegal was named the National Team of the Year, the former Liverpool striker, who had just transferred from Liverpool to Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga, was busy posing for some steamy photos.
Nearly every award at the CAF Awards 2022 went to Senegal. The African champions only gave the opposition crumbs after grabbing awards like “Best Player,” “Coach of the Year,” and “Best Team.”
The “national selection” of the year award went to the Teranga Lions. Also, Senegalese Pape Matar Sarr’s won the “Best Young Player” of the Continent and Pape Oumar Sakho’s “Most Beautiful Goal” award from Simba SC (Tanzania).
Recall that Senegal won the last edition of the Africa Cup of Nations (first in the country’s history) with a penalty kick by Mané against Egypt. Senegal traveled back home and joined a victory parade in Dakar, the nation’s capital. It ultimately turned into the largest party in the history of the nation.
After the AFCON championship, Senegal played Egypt again, ousting the Egyptians on penalties after a 1-1 aggregate tie. This victory allowed Senegal to go to the 2022 FIFA World Cup. After converting the go-ahead penalty once more, Mané eliminated Mohamed Salah of Egypt from two consecutive competitions in less than a month.
Aliou Cisse, the head coach of the national team, earned the title of “Coach of the Year” after guiding his squad to their maiden continental championship and another World Cup qualification.
Legendary Nigerian retired footballer Jay Jay Okocha was pictured having massive fun at the event by dancing to the amazement of football lovers present at Rabat.
At the 2022 CAF Awards on Thursday night in Rabat, Morocco, Desiree Ellis, the head coach of Banyana Banyana, was honored as Women’s Coach of the Year.
She has now received the honor three times in a row.
She guided Banyana Banyana to the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations championship final, where they will play Morocco on Saturday. Additionally, South Africa has earned a spot in the 2023 Women’s World Cup.
The coach is the second captain of the national team and a founding member of the Banyana Banyana.
Asma Lmnawar, a singer from Morocco, had a wonderful performance at the event, and she practically lit up the CAF Awards 2022 with her beautiful voice and her elegance.
Sadio Mane and Oshoala clinches Awards
Sadio Mane was the major attraction at the 2022 CAF Awards after defeating Mohamed Salah and Edouard Mendy to claim the title of African Footballer of the Year.
The Senegalese received numerous individual domestic awards for his outstanding work for Liverpool, which captured two domestic cups, competed with Manchester City in the Premier League, and reached the Champions League final.
Salah, who Mane frequently opposes, was recognized this year as the PWA Players’ Player of the Year, PFA Fans’ Player of the Year, and FWA Footballer of the Year.
One of the best performances by an African player was by Salah from late August to late December, when he contributed 28 goals in all competitions.
Despite Liverpool’s narrow loss, Salah outperformed Mane in the Premier League, and the Senegalese player still earned CAF Player of the Year ahead of him thanks to his dominance in international football.
The African Women’s Player of the Year for 2022 is Asisat Oshoala, the captain of Nigeria and Barcelona star player.
The 27-year-old defeated Inter Milan, Grace Chanda of Zambia, and Ajara Nchout Njoya of Cameroon to win the award on Thursday night (Zambia and BIIK Kazygurt).
With this, she beats Perpetual Nkwocha, who had previously received the accolade four times, and makes history by being the first African to win the prestigious award a record-breaking five times.
Oshoala’s 2021–22 campaign, in which she assisted her Spanish team in winning the Spanish Women’s Super Cup, the Copa de la Reina, and the Primera Division, may have been her best ever.
CAF Goal of the year award went to Pape Ousmane Sakho (Senegal & Simba). Sakho scored the winning goal on February 13, 2022, at Mkapa Stadium in Dar es Salaam, as Simba defeated ASEC Mimosas 3-1 in a group stage game of the Africa Confederation Cup.
His opponents for the category were: Gabadinho Mhango (Malawi & Orlando Pirates), and Zouhair El Moutaraji.
See Goal Below
