Former Cameroon international Samuel Eto’o believes Liverpool forwards Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane should have won the Best Fifa Men’s Player of the year award.
On Monday, Barcelona star Lionel Messi clinched the award ahead of Juventus' Cristiano Ronaldo and Virgil van Dijk, who came second and third respectively.
Egypt international Salah along with his Reds teammate and Senegal star Mane missed out on the individual prize.
The African stars were in terrific form last season, with Salah scoring 27 goals while Mane notched 26 strikes across all competitions.
They jointly emerged as the Premier League top-scorers along with Arsenal and Gabon striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
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Their performances helped Jurgen Klopp’s men win the Champions League for the first time in 14 years, and Mane helped his country to the Afcon 2019 final.
Eto’o, who recently retired from professional, was asked by a reporter which one of the finalists deserve the award more but the former Barcelona and Inter Milan star went on to pick the African duo as his preferred choices.
“The best one for me is Mohamed Salah [and] Sadio Mane, but they’re not here,” Eto’o said.
This season, the African stars have scored four league goals each and will hope to continue playing key roles for Liverpool in Wednesday’s League Cup outing against Milton Keynes Don and Saturday’s Premier League game against Sheffield United.
