The 2023 CAF Awards was held on Monday in the magnificent city of Marrakesh in Morocco with Nigeria carting home with four awards.
For the first time after 24 years, Nigerian forward , Victor Osimhen was crowned as the African Player of the Year.
It was indeed a long time coming for the three times African Champions as Kanu Nwankwo was the last Nigeria player to win the award.
Read Also:CAF Awards 2023: Osimhen Is The New King Of African Football
It was also a historic moment as Asisat Oshoala was crowned as Women’s player of the year for a record six times.
She became the first and only player to win any Player of the year award for a record six times.
Chiamaka Nnadozie picked up the goalkeeper of the year award after a scintillating performance both for country and club.
In other awards , Senegalese sensation Lamine Camara capped off a remarkable 2023 by winning the CAF Young Player of the Year award on Monday night.
The 19-year-old FC Metz forward beat fellow nominees Abdessamad Ezzalzouli of Morocco and compatriot Amara Diouf to the prestigious prize.
Camara has rapidly risen from African football’s next big thing into the present, enjoying a meteoric year few could have predicted.
Moroccan hero Yassine Bounou further cemented his legendary status on Monday, winning the CAF award for Best African Goalkeeper in Marrakech.
Bounou beat fellow nominees Andre Onana of Cameroon and Egypt’s Mohamed El-Shenawy to the prestigious prize.
With her win on Monday as the first Moroccan to win the 2023 CAF Women’s Interclub Player of the Year title, midfield star Fatima Tagnaout made history.
The AS FAR winger defeated South Africa’s Lebohang Ramalepe and Botswana’s Refilwe Tholakele in a glamorous CAF awards ceremony in Marrakech.
Tagnaout was excellent in Cote d’Ivoire last month, even if AS FAR was unable to win the CAF Women’s Champions League.
Morocco boss Walid Regragui has been crowned CAF’s Best Coach of the Year for the men’s category after guiding his country to a historic World Cup semi-final run in Qatar.
The 48-year-old claimed African football’s top individual coaching prize at Monday’s awards ceremony in Marrakech after a remarkable 2022.
Regragui’s incredible impact saw him beat Senegal’s Aliou Cisse and Algeria’s Abdelhak Benchika to the coaching award.
Desiree Ellis, the coach of the senior women’s national team from South Africa, keeps adding to the extensive record of African football history.
The coach of Banyana Banyana, who led South Africa to their second FIFA Women’s World Cup berth and their first-ever TotalEnergies CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations, is still the recipient of the award that she earned in 2018, 2019 and 2022.
Ellis’s tactical prowess and supremacy, which only gets better with time, have prevented any other coach from winning the CAF Women’s Coach of the Year title except Ellis.
The CAF Awards 2023 have officially recognised the Atlas Lions as the best team of the year for the November 2022–September 2023 period.
Morocco’s remarkable ascent on the continent was acknowledged on a worldwide scale when they shocked football fans everywhere by making it all the way to the FIFA World Cup semifinals in Qatar.
The Moroccans are the first team to win National Team of the Year, and this honour comes at a moment when the country is experiencing tremendous success on the continent and, more recently, internationally.
Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies won the Women’s Club of the year award following their performance after lifting the CAF Women’s Champions League title.
At the CAF Awards 2023 in Marrakech, Morocco, on Monday, Al Ahly, the defending winners of the TotalEnergies CAF winners League, took home the Club of the Year trophy.
Africa’s most successful football team was appropriately acknowledged by CAF for their continuous excellence in raising the African football flag high after winning their record-tying 11th CAF Champions League title, which came along with victories in the Egyptian Premier League and Egyptian Cup.
The award was last won by Al Ahly in 2013, which was precisely ten years ago.
Al Ahly and South African forward, Percy Tau won the CAF Interclub Player of the year.