Head coach of Ghana’s Black Stars, James Kwesi Appiah, says he’s not surprised after Mohamed Salah was named the 2017 African Player of the Year.

The Egyptian winger was yesterday crowned with the topmost continental individual accolade after toppling Senagal’s Sadio Mane and Gabon’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

In an interview after the ceremonial unveiling of the various winners at 2017 AITEO CAF Awards at the International Conference Center in Accra, the Black Stars gaffer highlighted the significant role Salah played in the team’s qualification to the 2018 World Cup.

“If you look at the all the players that were nominated, I thought he did his best, if you look at their 28-year absence of Egypt at World Cup, Salah did well in their qualification campaign by scoring most their and assisting, so it was really good they gave it to him,” Appiah said.

Salah was joint-top scorer in the 2018 African World Cup Qualifiers after guiding Egypt to their first FIFA World Cup since 1990.

Video: Mohamed Salah wins 2017 African Player of the Year