Sadio Mane has been named African Footballer of the Year for 2022, seeing off competition from former Liverpool team-mate Mohamed Salah and Chelsea's Edouard Mendy at Thursday's CAF awards.
The Bayern Munich new boy, who was also crowned the continent's top player in 2019, helped Senegal win their first Africa Cup of Nations title in February, scoring the winning penalty to down Salah's Egypt in the final.
The forward scored three goals throughout the competition in Cameroon, after which he was crowned Player of the Tournament.
One month later, Mane was influential in another shoot-out win over the Pharaohs, as Senegal sealed qualification for the World Cup in Qatar later this year.
On the domestic front, meanwhile, Mane scored 23 goals in all competitions as Liverpool won the EFL and FA Cups during his final season at Anfield.
Mane made 51 appearances across a mammoth 2021-22 campaign with the Reds, a tally only bettered by Jordan Henderson (57), Diogo Jota (55) and Allison (54).
Oliver Kahn, chief executive of Mane's new employers Bayern, was the first to offer his congratulations to the 30-year-old, writing on Twitter: "We are very happy about Sadio Mane's award.
"FC Bayern has never had an African Footballer of the Year in its ranks in its long history, which is a special honour for our club.
"We are very proud that he is now on the ball for our club and have many big goals with him."
While Chelsea shot-stopper Mendy missed out on being crowned the continent's best player, he could draw some consolation from Senegal's clean sweep of awards.
The Lions of Teranga were named CAF's team of the year, while boss Aliou Cisse won Coach of the Year and midfielder Pape Matar Sarr scooped the Young Player of the Year gong.
Kevin De Bruyne and Pep Guardiola: Champions League is City dream and obsession
Pep Guardiola and Kevin De Bruyne admit winning the Champions League has become both a dream and an obsession for Manchester City.
City stand on the brink of glory as they prepare to face Inter Milan in the final in Istanbul on Saturday.
Guardiola’s side are strong favourites for a game that could not only see them crowned European champions for the first time but complete the treble.
The Premier League winners are hoping to put years of frustration behind them after several near misses in their pursuit of the prize they covet most.
De Bruyne gave his feelings on the matter when he was asked if victory was a “dream” or an “obsession” as City held a pre-match press conference at the Ataturk Olympic Stadium on Friday.
“Maybe both, it depends who you ask,” said the Belgium playmaker. “Every professional player wants to win the Champions League and be on top.
“If you can win the Champions League, you’ve reached one of the biggest things you can.”
“To compete every year is amazing, and I’ve been able to compete against the best, but we’ve got a chance to close that if we are good enough.”
City have reached the knockout stages of the tournament in each of Guardiola’s seven seasons as manager but they are yet to fulfil their ambition.
Their runners-up finish two seasons ago, when they were beaten by Chelsea in the final, is the closest they have come.
Guardiola, who won the competition twice as Barcelona boss, said: “It’s absolutely a dream, yes.
“To achieve things you always have to have the correct proportion of obsession and desire.
“It’s a positive word for the desire and will to win it. It is of course a dream for us.”
City’s outstanding season has been fuelled by the goalscoring of Erling Haaland.
The prolific Norwegian has netted 52 goals in an outstanding first campaign at the Etihad Stadium.
Haaland admitted this week has was brought to City to win the Champions League and Guardiola – whose two previous successes came in tandem with Lionel Messi at Barcelona – hopes he proves the final piece of the jigsaw.
Asked what he would advise managers hoping to emulate his achievements, Guardiola said: “Have good players – have Messi, have Haaland. This is my success. I’m not joking.
“Every manager who has had success has had strong institutions and exceptional players. I’ve never scored a goal as a manager.”
Haaland actually goes into the game having scored just once in his last seven outings but this is not a concern for Guardiola.
“I don’t have doubts,” he said. “If you have doubts about Erling scoring you are a very lonely person.
“Tomorrow he will be ready to help us win the Champions League.”
Haaland has formed a potent attacking partnership with De Bruyne.
De Bruyne was cheekily asked at the press conference if it had been “love at first sight” between the pair.
De Bruyne said: “No. I’m happy with my wife!”
Elaborating more, he added: “You have a feeling with a player and I understand what he wants. It clicked really well. He’s scored at an incredible rate and settled really easily.”
De Bruyne has been chasing Champions League success with City since 2015.
He said: “We have been consistent, we have been good enough, but we need to find a way to win the first one. It would be immense for the club and the fans, something amazing.”
We love the pressure – Ruben Dias confident Man City will thrive in final
Ruben Dias is confident Manchester City will thrive on the pressure in the Champions League final.
The City defender has no doubt his team-mates will step up to the challenge as they face Inter Milan in Istanbul on Saturday.
City have already claimed the domestic double after an outstanding late-season charge and they now stand just one win away from becoming European champions for the first time.
Dias said: “We love the pressure, we love it. The pressure will make you run faster, jump higher, be more focused.
“That’s what these kind of games need and we need to embrace it. We enjoy the moment and we know what it means to our club, the fans, our families and we never forget to enjoy it.”
After an inconsistent spell either side of the World Cup, City hit form in the spring to reel in Arsenal at the top of the Premier League and retain their title.
They then powered through to the Champions League final with stunning victories over Bayern Munich and holders Real Madrid.
After beating rivals Manchester United to win the FA Cup last weekend, momentum seems very much to be on their side.
Dias said: “I’ve been saying this for a long time – when we get to February and the decisions come up, that’s the sweet spot.
“You can see the character of a team when you arrive on these stages, you can see whether a team wants to move forward or starts hiding.
“Since that moment we’ve been showing up every time and tomorrow will be no different. It’s another time for all of us to step up to the occasion.”
Republic of Ireland name 31-player training squad ahead of Women’s World Cup
Republic of Ireland boss Vera Pauw has named a 31-player pre-World Cup training camp squad again to be captained by Arsenal’s Katie McCabe.
The Republic will face co-hosts Australia in their World Cup opener on July 20, a contest which proved so popular that in January it was relocated to the tournament’s largest venue, Sydney’s 83,500-capacity Stadium Australia.
Pauw’s World Cup debutants have three scheduled warm-up games before that fixture, beginning with a sold-out June 22 encounter against Zambia at Dublin’s Tallaght Stadium.
McCabe along with three US-based players – Denise O’Sullivan, Sinead Farrelly and Marissa Sheva – will link up with the squad after the Zambia game.
Manchester United defender Aoife Mannion is a notable absence after tweaking her knee in training for her club last month, but the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) on Friday confirmed she will continue to be monitored ahead of the final squad selection of 23 players, to be whittled down by June 29.
The training camp schedule will factor in when players finished their respective club seasons to determine workload and recovery time and ensure they will be in line with each other for the final stage of tournament preparation.
Other Women’s Super League players to make the training squad include Everton goalkeeper Courtney Brosnan, Brighton shot-stopper Megan Walsh, and Liverpool defensive duo Niamh Fahey and Megan Campbell, with their Reds team-mate Leanne Kiernan among the forwards.
Brighton’s Megan Connolly and Aston Villa’s Ruesha Littlejohn join McCabe in the pack of midfielders hoping to make Pauw’s final 23-player squad to travel to Australia, where they will also meet Canada and Nigeria in Group B.
Grace Moloney and Diane Caldwell represent recently relegated Reading, while Chloe Mustaki plays for newly promoted Bristol City.
Full Republic of Ireland pre-World Cup squad:
Goalkeepers: Courtney Brosnan (Everton), Grace Moloney (Reading), Megan Walsh (Brighton), Sophie Whitehouse (Lewes)
Defenders: Harriet Scott (Birmingham), Aine O’Gorman (Shamrock Rovers), Louise Quinn (Birmingham), Niamh Fahey (Liverpool), Diane Caldwell (Reading), Hayley Nolan (London City Lionesses), Claire O’Riordan (Celtic), Megan Campbell (Liverpool), Chloe Mustaki (Bristol City), Tara O’Hanlon (Peamount United)
Midfielders: Katie McCabe (Arsenal), Denise O’Sullivan (North Carolina Courage), Megan Connolly (Brighton), Ruesha Littlejohn (Aston Villa), Jamie Finn (Birmingham), Ciara Grant (Hearts), Lily Agg (London City Lionesses), Sinead Farrelly (NY/NJ Gotham), Lucy Quinn (Birmingham City), Erin McLaughlin (Peamount United)
Forwards: Heather Payne (Florida State University), Leanne Kiernan (Liverpool), Abbie Larkin (Shamrock Rovers), Kyra Carusa (London City Lionesses), Amber Barrett (Potsdam Turbine), Marissa Sheva (Washington Spirit), Saoirse Noonan (Durham WFC).
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