The Senegal international beat off competition from fellow Reds teammate Mohamed Salah and Algeria’s Riyad Mahrez.

Mane has enjoyed a successful year in which he won the UEFA Champions League with Liverpool and reached the final of the AFCON with Senegal.

READ ALSO: Sadio Mane crowned African Footballer of the Year

On a personal level, the 27-year-old was also joint top scorer in the Premier League after netting 22 goals last season.

For a man who comes from a modest background, his compatriots back home have always had his back.

And they were right there during the big moment when Mane was adjudged the CAF African Footballer of the Year.

Mane hails from Bambali, a small village in the Sédhiou region of southern Senegal.

While majority of his village people could not attend the awards ceremony, they gathered to watch his crowning moment on a giant screen.

Surely a deserved award for the Senegal international – and it could be the beginning of many more to come.