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Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mané made history this season, when they shared the Premier League’s Golden Boot award.
The three marksmen scored 22 goals each, edging out Sergio Agüero by a single goal.
Salah become the first African to win the Premier League award in successive seasons, joining fellow Africans Anthony Yeboah (Eintracht Frankfurt/Bundesliga 1993 and 1994) and Samuel Eto’o (Barcelona/La Liga 2005 and 2006) to have achieved that feat in one of Europe’s top leagues.
There is one thing that Aubameyang, Mane and Salah have in common: Jürgen Klopp.
Mané and Salah of course play for Liverpool, the club coached by Klopp, while the German signed Aubameyang for Dortmund when he was still in charge of the Bundesliga team.
It was a fact that the 51-year-old was eager to point out. He asked journalists after the final Liverpool game – in which Mané scored twice to draw level with his team-mate Salah – whether the Reds now had the top two goalscorers. He was then told that Aubameyang had also scored twice.
“So, all my players, eh?
“Oh, Auba scored twice again? At Burnley? Wow, I never would have expected that. How do they do that now, do they make three golden boots? Or everybody gets it for three months?”
No, the Premier League presented a trophy to each of the three players. There is no direct prize money involved, instead Cadbury, who sponsor the award, donate £1 000 (about R18 300) a goal to a charity of the players’ choosing.
Presumably in this case, the chocolate maker allowed all three players to donate £22 000 each.
However, the three internationals are not the only African stars who have been grabbing goals in some of the top leagues throughout Europe.
Mbwana Samatta, who was top scorer in the CAF Champions League when his then club TP Mazembe won in 2015, heads the scorer charts in Belgium by two goals from Tunisian international Hamdi Harbaoui.
The Zulte Waregem player has 18 goals, while Samatta, who plays for KRC Genk has scored 20 times in 28 matches.
With some games still outstanding, the Tanzanian captain could add to that tally before heading to Egypt for the Africa Cup of Nations, for which the Taifa Stars have qualified for the first time since 1980.
Presumably also making the trip to the land of the Pharaohs, will be LOSC Lille striker Nicolas Pépé. The Côte d’Ivoire international has scored 20 goals in 36 matches in Ligue 1, second only to PSG star Kylian Mbappé. Both still have two matches to play in which they can increase their tally.
In the Bundesliga Ishak Belfodil has been in fine form – netting 15 times in 27 games for Hoffenheim ahead of their final game.
The striker, who was cut from the Algerian squad shortly before the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations finals, is hoping that the goals he scored in Germany will earn him a place in Djamel Belmadi’s final squad this time around.
Dutch-born Hakim Ziyech, who agonisingly lost out on a place in the Champions League final with Ajax Amsterdam through a last-gasp Tottenham Hotspur goal, is also expected to be playing in Egypt.
The Moroccan international, who plays as an attacking midfielder for the Dutch champions, stands on 16 goals from 29 matches.
With African goals galore throughout Europe this season, Aubameyang highlighted the fact that he considered winning the EPL Golden Ball award a victory for Africa.
“I am sharing this trophy with Mané and Salah – and I like these two guys. We are representing Africa so it is a good sign for the continent.
“It means a lot. I am really happy and proud of it.”
