Football
KweséESPN Reporter 6y

Karl Toko Ekambi wins Marc-Vivien Foe prize

Angers striker Karl Toko Ekambi as been named the best African player in Ligue 1 after winning the Marc-Vivien Foe award on Monday.

The international forward is the first Cameroonian to win the award, which is named after the late Indomitable Lions midfielder who died after collapsing during the Confederations Cup in 2003.

Toko Ekambi netted 17 goals for Angers this season, a whopping 41 percent of their total, and is currently the eighth highest scorer in the French top flight.

The 25-year-old saw off the award's holder - OGC Nice's Jean Seri - in clinching the 2018 prize, following in the footsteps of the likes of Vincent Enyeama, Marouane Chamakh and Gervinho.

World Cup-bound Tunisia international Wahbi Khazri of Stade Rennais and Olympique Lyonnais' Burkinabe forward Bertrand Traore were also nominated for this year's award.

"This award is a big deal," he told the award's co-organisers RFI. "I'm proud to have won this title in front of players who play in big clubs in Ligue 1.

"I know them especially for playing against them, but I do not know them personally," he added. "I know that Bertrand Traore played in big clubs.

"He is young enough but he already has a good record and a lot of great clubs under his belt," Toko Ekambi continued. "Khazri is a major player in the French Championship."

Toko Ekambi, who was a member of Cameroon's 2017 African Cup of Nations-winning side, joined Angers from Sochaux in 2016 having previously featured for Paris FC.

He also competed in the 2017 Confederations Cup, as the Lions returned to the competition 14 years after Foe's passing.

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