Senegalese football star Sadio Mane has now become the 10th African player to win the African Footballer of the Year award more than once. He was announced as the 2022 winner at the Confederation of African Football's awards ceremony in Rabat, Morocco on Thursday. He was present in Morocco to collect his award just 24 hours after he made his Bayern Munich debut where he scored a goal and inspired several others. Mane came top of the list trouncing his former teammate and Egyptian star Mohamed Salah and his Senegalese teammate and Chelsea keeper Edouard Mendy. Mane finished as runners-up to the Premier League champions Manchester City with Liverpool, won the Emirates FA Cup, the Carabao Cup, and also as captain of Senegal led the nation to clinch the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) title. Mane's Senegal beat Salah's Egypt on penalties to be crowned the African champions. 

Mendy also played a key role in Senegal's success, as well as becoming a Club World Cup champion with Chelsea in February. The 30-year-old is the first goalkeeper to make the top three in an African Footballer of the Year vote since 2014 when Vincent Enyeama came third. Mane becomes the sixth player to have been named African Footballer of the Year on exactly two occasions. The others are Salah, Didier Drogba, Roger Milla, Nwankwo Kanu and El Hadji Diouf. George Weah and Abedi Pele are both three-time winners, while Samuel Eto'o and Yaya Toure have won the award four times each. 

It is worth noting that Mane struck the decisive spot-kick as Senegal again edged Egypt in a penalty shootout to win a place at the FIFA 2022 World Cup finals in Qatar. Mane also finished ahead of his former teammate Salah in the 2019 voting. Salah, 30, won the award in 2017 and 2018 with Mane second on both occasions. “I dedicate this award to the youth of Senegal. I'm very emotional and don't have the words to express how I'm feeling,” Mane said after receiving his award. His Senegalese teammate Mendy who plays for Chelsea was named the best goalkeeper in the world at FIFA’s 2021 award, held in January.