Salah is England's Footballer of the Year
Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane scores the team’s second goal during their English Premier League match against Watford at Wembley Stadium in London on Monday. Spurs won 2-0 to cement its position in the top four. The win put fourth-placed Spurs five points clear of Chelsea with three games remaining and within a point of Liverpool, which has two matches left, in the race for UEFA Champions League spots. When Kane turned in Kieran Trippier’s cross in the 48th minute, the England striker moved onto 27 goals for the campaign — four fewer than Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah in the race for the EPL’s top scorer. Kane has won the Golden Boot the past two seasons.
Liverpool's Egyptian forward Mohamed Salah has been voted Footballer of the Year by the Football Writers’ Association to complete the double of English soccer’s top individual awards.
Salah was chosen as Player of the Year by the Professional Footballers Association after an outstanding season in which he has scored 43 goals in all competitions. The 25-year-old is the first African to win the FWA award which began in 1948.
Salah narrowly beat Manchester City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne in a ballot of over 400 FWA members, with the winning margin less than 20 votes. Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane was placed third.
“What a race it has been between two players who, in a relatively short time, have reached genuine world class. But Mo Salah is the worthiest of winners. He is also the first African to receive the award and we congratulate him,” FWA Chairman Patrick Barclay said.
Salah has helped Liverpool, which is third in the English Premier League, into the UEFA Champions League semifinals for the first time in 10 years.
The Merseyside club faces AS Roma in the second leg in the Italian capital today and leads 5-2 from the first game at Anfield in which Salah scored twice and set up two other goals.
Salah will head to the World Cup in Russia in June to play for Egypt which has been drawn with the hosts, Saudi Arabia and Uruguay in Group A.
Other players to receive votes from FWA members were: Sergio Aguero (City), Christian Eriksen (Spurs), Roberto Firmino (Liverpool), Nick Pope (Burnley), David Silva (City), Raheem Sterling (City) and Jan Vertonghen (Spurs).
