Africa legend, Samuel Eto’o has revealed why Barcelona captain, Lionel Messi won the 2019 Ballon D’ Or ahead of Liverpool’s Sadio Mane.
Mane finished in fourth behind Lionel Messi, Virgil van Dijk and Cristiano Ronaldo.
The 27-year-old has enjoyed a fine 2019, scoring 54 goals for club and country last season, as he helped Jurgen Klopp’s men to win the 2018/2019 UEFA Champions League.
Mane also led Senegal to second place at AFCON and Eto’o insists the forward would have landed the award had Africans voted for him.
“If Sadio Mane won it and was on the podium, no one was going to complain because he deserves it and has been doing well and he had the best season,” Eto’o said as per IOL.
“Messi (Lionel) won because all the South Americans voted for him. I think the Europeans also voted for Virgil Van Dijk hence he was the runner-up.”
He added: “Africans didn’t vote for Mane. That’s the big problem. African people have problems with other African people.
“We, as Africans, are letting ourselves down. We need to unite if we are serious about ending the dominance of the Europeans and the South Americans in the race to be crowned the best players in the world.”
Source: dailypost.ng
