PLAYER SPOTLIGHT: Vincent Aboubakar - Cameroonian striker up for top CAF award

Vincent Aboubakar of Cameroon celebrates goal during the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations Finals Afcon Final match between Egypt and Cameroon at the Libreville in Gabon on 5 February 2017 ©Samuel Shivambu/BackpagePix

by Graeme Jackson

Thursday Nov 30, 2017. 13:00

Cameroon striker Vincent Aboubakar will have welcomed this week’s news that he has made the shortlist for the CAF Player of the Year award.

The Indomitable Lions attacker joins the likes of Victor Moses, Mohamed Salah, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Naby Keita on the 11-man shortlist for the top prize. The awards ceremony will be held in Accra, Ghana, on January 4, 2018.

Meanwhile, Aboubakar will be focused on Porto’s next Primeira Liga assignment, which sees them take on arch rivals Benfica in a heavyweight clash on Friday night.

Porto currently lead the Portuguese top flight with an impressive haul of 32 points from 12 matches, but with Sporting (30) and Benfica (29) not far behind, the match is set to be key to their title hopes.

Porto dropped points in their last match, a 1-1 draw away to Desportivo Aves last weekend in which Aboubakar was substituted midway through the second half.

The Cameroonian attacker has a fine return of nine goals from 12 league matches this season, but hasn’t hit the back of the net in either of Porto’s last two matches across all competitions.

A return to form in the big game against Benfica would be most welcome and probably go a long way in returning Sergio Conceicao’s side back to championship glory in Portugal.