SADIO MANE and Mohamed Salah both scored as Liverpool thumped Crystal Palace 7-0 at the weekend.
The Reds duo were integral parts of Jurgen Klopp’s rampant machine as they stormed to the Premier League title last season – the club’s first-ever.
The Liverpool pair join the likes of Didier Drogba and Yaya Toure in being African stars to have won the Premier League.
Those four players unquestionably go down as some of the best African players ever. But who else makes the cut?
GK – VINCENT ENYEAMA
Arguably the best African goalkeeper of the past decade, Enyeama is Nigeria’s joint-highest appearance maker with 101 caps to his name.
He acted as the Super Eagles’ vice captain for their 2013 Africa Cup of Nations triumph and featured in the 2010 and 2014 World Cups – notably putting in a sensational performance against Argentina and Lionel Messi in the former tournament.
CB – RIGOBERT SONG
An icon of Cameroonian football, Song is the most capped played of his country and he pulled on the national team jersey 137 times over 17 years.
Most-famously played for Liverpool and West Ham during his playing days.
CB – SAMMY KUFFOUR
A stalwart of the Bayern Munich defence between 1993 and 2005 where he won 14 honours, Kuffour served Ghana with distinction too.
He wasn’t the tallest of defenders but he made up for it with his exceptional positional awareness and he was voted African Player of the Year in 2001.
Lucas Radebe has gone down in history as a Leeds legend
CB – LUCAS RADEBE
Fondly remembered for his time at Leeds where he spent nine years, Radebe was one of the most versatile footballers of his generation.
Starting out as a midfielder, he transitioned into a centre back and he steered South Africa to Afcon success in 1996.
CM – YAYA TOURE
A four-time winner of African Footballer of the Year, Toure was a marauding footballer who was also a free-kick specialist.
The Ivorian excelled at club level and at Manchester City, became only the second midfielder to score 20 goals in a single Premier League season in 2014.
Toure won three Premier League titles at City, as well as two LaLiga crowns and the Champions League at Barcelona.
CM – MICHAEL ESSIEN
Disciplined and possessing an excellent reading of the game, Essien won everything at club level and he also earned 58 caps for Ghana.
He was physically strong and he retired last summer. Although he was unable to inspire Ghana to success, he more than left his mark on the game.
Essien won two PL titles and four FA Cups while in West London.
Yaya Toure fully merits a place in the all-time African XI
RW – MOHAMED SALAH
Now a Champions League AND Premier League winner, Salah’s career was close to fizzling out after he was shown the door by Chelsea.
But at Liverpool he reinvented himself and won two consecutive Premier League Golden Boots and a PFA Player of the Year award, and the rest as they say is history.
LW – SADIO MANE
Another key component of the fearsome Liverpool trio, Mane was the pick of the bunch last season in the Premier League.
Inspiring the Reds to a sixth European Cup in 2018-19, he has become one of the most complete forwards in the game.
Sadio Mane and Mohamed Salah were key for Liverpool breaking their league title drought
Drogba easily takes a spot in the XI after being a dominant force for years
CF – SAMUEL ETO’O
Retiring from the game just last year, Eto’o is more than deserving of a place in this glittering XI.
Hard working and a natural finisher, he’s Afcon’s all-time top goalscorer and Cameroon’s all-time top scorer too.
Eto’o won three LaLiga titles and two Champions League crowns at Barcelona – as well as the Serie A title and another European Cup at Inter Milan.
ST – DIDIER DROGBA
Drogba was an unstoppable force when he was at Chelsea.
But while he succeeded at club, he couldn’t translate that to the international stage where he fell short with Ivory Coast’s ‘Golden Generation’.
Drogba won four Premier League crowns at the Blues, as well as a Champions League winners’ medal to boot.
ST – GEORGE WEAH
Although he wasn’t as successful at club level, he is the only African player to ever win the Ballon d’Or.
One of the most devastating forwards of his generation, Weah’s career saw him play for the likes of Chelsea, AC Milan, PSG and Monaco.
Seven stars who quit Chelsea and became world class including Kevin De Bruyne, Mo Salah and Tiago
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
