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Steve Dede

<h1>Villarreal left-back Alberto Moreno has revealed that Super Eagles star Samuel Chukwueze reminds him of his former Liverpool teammate Sadio Mane.</h1>

Moreno who played seven years at Liverpool was teammates with Senegalese forward Mane.

Now at Villarreal, the 27-old left back has used his former teammate Mane to pay compliment to his current teammate Chukwueze.

“Chukwueze is very good. I followed him last year because I had him in the Comunio (football manager) and he gave me many points,” Moreno told AS.

ALSO READ: <a data-link-role-code="none" href="https://www.pulse.ng/sports/football/why-samuel-chukwuezes-kopa-trophy-nomination-is-a-big-deal/214ekdx" rel="noopener noreferrer">Samuel Chukwueze nominated for Ballon d'Or's best U21 player award</a>

“That’s why I started following him again. He is a super incisive player, fast, you don’t know where he is going to go out, and he is very strong, precise in his play. He has everything.

“He reminds me a lot of Sadio Mane. I have seen them both in training and I can tell you that he reminds me a lot of him.”

Chukwueze broke out last season at Villarreal and scored nine goals in all competition in his debut season.

He hasn’t been explosive this season as expected but has managed two goals so far.

Samuel Chukwueze (Jose Breton/Pics Action/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Moreno pays compliment to his Villarreal teammate Chukwueze.

Villarreal defender Moreno says Super Eagles star Samuel Chukwueze reminds him of Mane

<h1>Former Cameroon and Barcelona striker Samuel Eto’o has revealed that Mohammed Salah and Sadio Mane should have been nominated for FIFA Best’s Men’s Player of the Year award.</h1>

Despite an incredible year, Salah and Mane who led Liverpool to the Champions League title in 2019 are not among the final three finalists for the 2019 FIFA Best’s Men’s Player of the Year award.

Mane and Salah were both incredible for Liverpool and finished top scorers in the Premier League last season

Eto’o is not pleased with and made a case for his fellow African players at the green carpet of the FIFA Best Awards that was held in Milan.

Asked by the hosts who his choice was for the award between the final nominees- <a href="https://www.pulse.ng/sports/more/van-dijk-threatens-to-eclipse-ronaldo-messi-in-worlds-best/5f1vw9h" link="null">Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi and Virgil van Dijk</a>, the 38-year-old responded; “the best one for me Mohammed Salah and Sadio Mane but they are not here.”

Eto’o always walked away from the interview immediately after his response and the clip of the interview has been shared widely on Twitter.

Eto’o himself only made the final nominees once and finished third in the voting for the 2005 FIFA World Player of the Year award, an equivalent of FIFA Best.

Many including his former Inter Milan manager Jose Mourinho believe that the Cameroonian would have won at least won the Ballon d’Or- another highly respected individual award.

"It's difficult to understand how Samuel Eto'o never won the Ballon d'Or with the impressive career he had," Mourinho told Cameroon Radio, as reported by BBC Sports.

"Samuel played for the best teams in the best leagues in the world. He scored an incredible amount of goals and was successful in different leagues.

"He played three champions league finals, winning two with Barcelona and scoring in both finals. He also won one champions league at Inter and won many league titles.

"He was the best striker in the world for several years and I think he deserved a Ballon d'Or but these are things out of our control."

Eto'o makes a case for his fellow Africans Salah and Mane.

African legend Samuel Eto’o says Mohammed Salah and Sadio Mane should have been nominated for FIFA Best’s Men’s Player of the Year

Pulse News Agency International by AFP

The sharpshooter beat fellow English Premier League stars, Liverpool team-mate Sadio Mane from Senegal and Gabonese Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang of Arsenal to the award.

Consistent scorer Salah has already won the 2018 BBC African Footballer of the Year prize and it was no surprise to see him add to his collection of individual honours in Dakar.

Salah becomes the first player from the north of the continent to claim back-to-back titles.

Ivorian Yaya Toure, Samuel Eto'o from Cameroon and Senegalese El Hadji Diouf achieved the feat in a competition first staged 48 years ago with Malian Salif Keita voted number one.

Manchester City midfielder Toure, the younger brother of former Arsenal defender Kolo, went on to finish first four times in a row from 2011.

Eto'o and Ghanaian Abedi 'Pele' Ayew are also four-time Player of the Year winners, but not in consecutive years.

Paris-based France Football magazine organised the annual award until the mid-1990s when the Confederation of African Football (CAF) took over.

Votes from national team and selected club coaches, CAF officials and unnamed 'experts' count toward deciding who lifts the trophy.

Salah scored 44 goals in all competitions for Liverpool last season, his first at Anfield after moving from Italian Serie A outfit Roma.

After a slow start to the 2018/2019 campaign, the right-side attacker has netted 13 goals, one less than Aubameyang and Tottenham Hotspur and England star Harry Kane.

The Egyptian also scored the winning goal against Napoli at Anfield last month that took Liverpool to the knockout phase of the Champions League at the expense of the Italian club.

Salah had less success with Egypt last year as injury ruled him out of the loss to Uruguay at the start of the World Cup in Russia.

He did score against both Russia and Saudi Arabia, but the north Africans were beaten in both matches and exited without securing even one point.

Later in the year, Salah scored twice but failed to convert two penalties as the Pharaohs ran riot at home to Niger in a 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier, winning 6-0.

Aubameyang, the son of former Gabon star Pierre, has made the top three for the fifth successive year, finishing second in 2014, then first, second and third.

Mane was third behind Algerian Riyad Mahrez and Aubameyang in 2016 and second last year, 118 points adrift of Salah.

Mohamed Salah wins 2018 African Player of the Year

Liverpool star Mohamed Salah has been named 2018 African Player of the Year for a second successive time at a gala awards ceremony in Senegal Tuesday.

Salah retains African Player of the Year title

<h1>No Nigerian player made the final cut as the Confederation of African Football (CAF) have confirmed Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang as the latest nominees for the 2018 African Player of the Year. </h1>

Super Eagles star Alex Iwobi was on a <a id="c6c5ad5e-bb09-4626-ac49-977d684b2cb6" href="https://www.pulse.ng/sports/football/musa-and-ighalo-out-as-iwobi-makes-10-man-shortlist-for-2018-african-player-of-the/6879yjv">10-man shortlist for the award released</a> in December but the Nigerian player didn’t make the final three.

The shortlist announced on Tuesday, January 1 has current African Player of the year Salah, his Liverpool teammate and Senegal international Mane and Arsenal and Gabon star Aubameyang.

The trio was also the final three for the last edition of the award which was won by Egypt forward Salah.

Sadio Mane, Mohamed Salah and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang were the finalists for the 2017 edition of the award

Salah is favourite to win it again after an amazing year where he helped Liverpool to the Champions League final and ending 2018 top of the Premier League as one of the strongest candidates for the title.

He will look to join legends like El Hadji Diouf of Senegal (2001, 2002) Samuel Eto of Cameroon (2003, 2004) and Yaya Toure (2011, 2012) as the only players to win the prize back to back.

The 2018 FIFA World Cup, however, does not help his case for the award as he struggled to play just two games because of an injury sustained in the Champions League final against Liverpool

Mane however impressed at the 2018 FIFA World Cup where he scored a goal in three games but his efforts were still not enough to take Senegal to the next round.

For Liverpool, the 26-year-old also impressed in the year under review and scored Liverpool’s only goal in the 1-3 to Real Madrid in the Champions League final.

Aubameyang has continued his prolific streak in front of goal for Arsenal since he joined them at the beginning of the year.

This season, he is one of the top scorers in the Premier League.

It’s another disappointing year for Nigerian football as none of their players failed to make it to the final three for another year.

No Nigerian player has made it to the final three since 2003 when Mikel John Obi lost out to Côte d’Ivoire’s Toure.

It has also been 18 years since a Nigerian player won the prestigious award. Kanu Nwankwo won it in 1999 and remains the last Nigerian player to win the award.

Kanu Nwankwo remains the last Nigerian player to win the prestigious award

Since Kanu won the award in 1999, only two Nigerian players, Austin ‘Jay Jay’ Okocha and Mikel have made it to the final three.

Okocha finished runners-up in 1998 behind Morocco’s Mustapha Hadji and third in 2003 and behind Eto'o of Cameroon and Côte d’Ivoire’s Didier Drogba in 2004.

Only four Nigerian players have won the CAF African Player of the Year award. Rashidi Yekini in 1993, Emmanuel Amunike in 1994, Kanu in 1996, 1999 and Victor Ikpeba in 1997.

Mohammed Salah (right) receiving the CAF African Player of the Year from Ahmad Ahmad

No Nigerian player has made it to the final three since 2003 when Mikel John Obi lost out to Côte d’Ivoire’s Toure.

No Nigerian as CAF unveil Salah, Mane and Aubameyang as final nominees for African Player of the Year award

Tosin Abayomi

<h1>﻿Premier League giants Liverpool﻿ had all members of their current squad present at their Christmas party.</h1>

Liverpool are confirmed to finish the year top of the league after another convincing 2-0 win against Wolverhampton Wanderers.

The win put the Merseyside outfit four points clear of <a id="0b607bd4-9290-4ae5-a2cc-4ffe5d95f2db" href="https://www.pulse.ng/sports/football/manchester-city-premier-league-champions-release-3rd-kit/qy2md3j">reigning Premier League champions Manchester City</a> with both sides having just one game left to play in the calendar year.

<a id="90740af2-d4f5-4f23-a9c5-8bebf4ea9274" href="https://sja.sportradar.com/w/Pulse/44-54571/023100"> Liverpool</a>.

Following their success throughout the year which included advancing to the Champions League final, the club gathered the star players for their official Christmas party.

Daniel Sturridge was in attendance at the Christmas Party [Kirk Andrew Cleaver]

Liverpool who are the only unbeaten team this season also participated in celebrating the festive period.

Star players <a id="e8a61d40-be6c-4d1e-83a3-878ea0238de7" href="https://www.pulse.ng/sports/football/mohamed-salah-5-things-to-know-about-liverpool-forward/fr7xmnf">Egypt forward Mohamed Salah</a>, Sadio Mane, Daniel Sturridge participated in the Christmas party.

None of the stars available came with their partners to the club event as some tried to shy away from media attention.

Mohamed Salah tried to shy away from the spot light at the Liverpool party [Kirk Andrew Cleaver]

The party was held at the China White Nightclub venue and some of the other stars that turned out include Dejan Lovren, Joe Gomez, Xherdan Shaqiri and Trent Alexander-Arnold.

Others are Divock Origi, Dominic Solanke, Nathaniel Clyne, Naby Keita and Dominic Solanke who is linked with a move away from Anfield.

Jurgen Klopp has already stated that Tottenham are also in the hunt for the title following their impressive form in recent weeks.

Xherdan Shaqiri has been an important addition to Liverpool[Kirk Andrew Cleaver]

He said, “You make these stories about who is in and who is out.

“I saw the game against Everton. The first goal of Tottenham was a situation Tottenham needed because Everton played more than OK.

‘They hit pretty much everything and it was really impressive what Tottenham did. The same will happen with Arsenal and Chelsea. Nobody should feel out of the race.

“For me, Tottenham were never out of the race so why should I be surprised they are in it?

“Tottenham had the most difficult summer period because eight or nine players played the full World Cup and to play such a season is really impressive. Last year pretty much nobody was in the title race, that is what is different this year.”

Liverpool returns to action when they take on Newcastle United in their next Premier League encounter scheduled for Wednesday, December 26.

Sadio Mane was part of the Liverpool stars present at the Christmas Party[ Kirk Andrew Cleaver]

Liverpool took advantage of the short break to gather their players for a Christmas party.

Liverpool stars turn out for Christmas party

Africa, the football mine of the world, where raw and unharnessed talents are plucked off from. African players are scattered everywhere in the world plying their trades.

In Pulse End of Year List series, we take a look at the best African XI of 2018. The best African players in each position.

Denis Onyango (Uganda/Mamelodi Sundowns)

Uganda caught the eye in the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) after finishing top of Group L without a loss. They didn’t even concede a goal with Denis Onyango in goal.

Onyango was a key part of the Mamelodi Sundowns squad that won the South African Premier League title in 2018.

Achraf Hakimi (Morocco/Real Madrid/Borussia Dortmund)

After breaking into the Real Madrid squad in 2017, Achraf Hakimi grown to become one of the best full backs out of Africa. The return of Dani Carvajal meant he didn’t play much part in Real Madrid’s historic third consecutive Champions League title win.

He was one of Morocco’s brightest players at the 2018 FIFA World Cup although they failed to make it past the group stage.

It’s with Borussia Dortmund where he is on a two-year loan that he has thrived, impressing as the black and yellow’s amazing run to the top of Bundesliga table.

Kalidou Koulibaly (Senegal/Napoli)

Kalidou Koulibaly has been a force to reckon with in recent years and has continued to be one of the best defenders in world football.

With him at the back, Napoli pushed Juventus all the way in the Serie A title race. He was linked with some of the biggest clubs in the summer but remained with Napoli and has continued to be solid at the back for the Italian side under new manager Carlo Ancelotti.

He couldn’t lift Senegal past the group stage of the World Cup but he remains the best defender from Africa.

Medhi Benatia (Morocco/Juventus)

Medhi Benatia might be finding game time hard to come by at Juventus due to the return of Leonardo Bonucci but he held the guard for the Italian champions in the absence of the veteran Italian.

Benatia was impressive for Juventus last season and made 33 appearances in all competition as the Old Lady won the Serie A and Coppa Italia double.

Kwadwo Asamoah (Ghana/Juventus)

Frustrated with his bit-part role at Juventus last season, Kwadwo Asamoah pitched his tent at Inter Milan where he can lay a claim to be the best summer signing in Serie A.

He has been consistent for Inter Milan who are aiming to push Juventus all the way in the title race.

For Ghana in 2018, he made a return to the national team after a four-year absence and helped them in their bid to qualify for AFCON 2019.

Wilfred Ndidi (Nigeria/Leicester City)

One of the best tacklers in world football, Wilfred Ndidi has become renowned for his solidity in defensive midfield for both club and country.

In 2018, he has kept growing in leaps and bounds, evolving also to be more than just a tackler in midfield.

Franck Kessié (Côte d'Ivoire/AC Milan)

It’s been a breakout year for Franck Kessié who has continued to earn rave reviews for his performances for AC Milan this season.

The midfielder has been ever-present for AC Milan this season. He has been linked with the likes of Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester United due to his solid performances this season.

Naby Keita (Guinea/RB Leipzig/Liverpool)

Yet to reach the level he was in his breakout 2016/2017 season but Naby Keita remains one of the best midfielders from Africa. After an average season with Leipzig, the Guinean has gradually gotten on his feet at Liverpool.

He has overcome injuries and acclimatization problems to still out in a couple of fine performances for Liverpool who have greatly improved to become one of the best sides in England.

Mohamed Salah (Egypt/Liverpool)

In one of his best years yet, Mohamed Salah completed his incredible 2017/2018 season with Liverpool top of the goalscoring chart with 44 goals in all competition.

His incredible debut season in England got him a third-place finish in the vote for the 2018 FIFA Best Player award and sixth in the Ballon d’Or.

The infamous injury in the Champions League final meant he couldn’t do anything to help Egypt at the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

He has continued from where he stopped last season although not in the same explosive manner. But he has a couple of goals which have helped Liverpool to get on the top of the Premier League table.

The Egyptian was also named the BBC African Player of the Year and in the running to retain his CAF's African Player of the Year award.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Arsenal/Gabon)

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang began the year with a big move to Arsenal and despite the dark cloud of covered the Emirates at that time, he still shone.

Last season he netted 10 goals in 14 appearances and has continued to be lethal for the Gunners. In fact, since his move to the Premier League, only Salah has scored more Premier League goals that Aubameyang who has scored 10 for the resurgent Gunners.

Sadio Mane (Senegal/Liverpool)

After a poor start to the 2017/2018 season, Sadio Mane regained form to lead Liverpool’s charge at the turn of the year. He ended the season with 20 goals in all competitions including the Liverpool's only goal in their 1-3 loss to Real Madrid in the Champions League final.

He scored one goal for a Senegal who narrowly missed out on a place in the round of 16 after a decent performance at the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

This season, he has continued to impress for Liverpool and although he is yet to hit top gear, he is still helping Liverpool to fly.

Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane are in goalscoring form for Liverpool

In Pulse End of Year List series, we take a look at the best African XI of 2018.

Pulse List 2018: Best African XI of the year

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