PLAYER SPOTLIGHT: Kalidou Koulibaly – Senegal's finest named in Italy Team of the Year

by Phumzile Ngcatshe

Tuesday Nov 28, 2017. 13:00

As he continues to help Italian Serie A giants Napoli to challenge for the Serie A title, Senegal defender Kalidou Koulibaly has been named in the Serie A Team of the Year.

Together with the likes of Juventus and former Azzurri goalkeeper, Gianluigi Buffon, the Lions of Teranga centre back has been included in the Best XI.

With Koulibaly's excellent displays, Napoli have conceded nine goals and scored 35 as they lead the Serie A table with 38 points from 14 matches.

They are yet to lose this term and together with AS Roma, are the only two teams with a good defensive record after conceding less than 10 goals so far.

An inclusion in the team of the year comes as a massive boost for the 26-year-old defender who will hope to lead the side to glory come the end of the campaign.

Apart from Buffon, Koulibaly has been named in the Best XI with six Juve players teammates from last season such as Leonardo Bonucci, Alex Sandro, Dani Alves, Miralem Pjanic, Gonzalo Higuain and Paulo Dybala.

Napoli has Koulibaly, Marek Hamsik and Dries Merten in the squad whilst Roma's Radja Nainggolan completes the squad and Maurizio Sarri is named the Coach of The Year.

Fresh from a 1-0 win over Udinese last weekend, they will now turn their focus to the tie against Juventus on Friday, December 1 at home.

Manager Sarri will want to bag a win and will count on Kalidou and company to secure another clean sheet to consolidate their top spot.