Osimhen Wins 2020 Marc-Vivien Foe Award
Lille’s Nigeria forward Victor Osimhen has won the 2020 Marc-Vivien Foe award as Africa’s best player in the French Ligue 1.
Osimhen has been immense in his first season in France after joining Lille from Belgium outfit Charleroi, making 38 appearances in all competitions for Christophe Galtier’s men and scoring 18 goals.
The 21-year-old saw off competition from Denis Bouanga, Andy Delort, Islam Slimani, Mbaye Niang, Yunis Abdelhamid, Habib Diallo, Idrissa Gana Gueye, Hamari Traore, Moses Simon and Edouard Mendy.
The votes were conducted by a jury of 100 African sports journalists for an award named after former Cameroon international Marc-Vivien Foe, who collapsed on the field of play and later died during the 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup in France.
Osimhen succeeds another former Lille player Nicolas Pepe, who won the award last year before securing a record-breaking transfer to English Premier League side Arsenal.
Osimhen won the golden boot at the 2015 FIFA Under-17 FIFA World Cup and has been capped nine times by the Nigeria national team, scoring four goals.
His performances this season has seen him linked with some of Europe’s heavyweights, including Liverpool.
The Marc-Vivien Foe award was started in 2009, with former Arsenal and Morocco striker Marouane Chamakh as the inaugural winner. Other winners of the award in the past include Gervinho, Younes Belhanda, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Vincent Enyeama, Andre Ayew, Sofiane Boufal, Jean Michael Seri and Karl Toko Ekambi.
