Liberia national team striker William Jebor has made the Confederation of African Football’s 30-man shortlist for the African Player of the Year Award.

Jebor, who has failed to perform well at the club level with Portugal’s Rio Ave and Spain’s Ponferradina, stole the show with his goal scoring for Lone Star in the recent qualifiers for the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations and the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

The former El Geish striker scored nine times from nine appearances for Lone Star in both qualifiers.

Jebor made his debut for Liberia in a 4-2 defeat in Cape Verde on March 26, 2011, before being squeezed out of the team. He returned after the appointment of current head coach James Debbah, who recalled Jebor for Liberia’s opening match of the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier away at Togo.

He returned to the team with an incredible strike that put Lone Star ahead, but the team was unable to maintain the lead as they went down 2-1 after the sound of the final whistle.

Jebor scored his second goal for Lone Star in the first round of the qualifiers for the 2018 FIFA World Cup against Guinea-Bissau when he scored from the penalty spot to give Liberia the lead at the Antoinette Tubman Stadium. The visitors leveled the score before the sound of the final whistle to walk away with a point.

Liberia needed a win away from home or a draw of 2-2 or more to advance to the second round of qualifications. Jebor turned a hero and became the fans’ favorite when he scored a hat trick to help Liberia to a 3-1 win over Guinea-Bissau away from home, as they reached the second round on a 4-2 aggregate.

Jebor joined the list of the top scorers of the Nations Cup qualifiers when he scored his second hat trick for Liberia against Djibouti on match day five of the qualifiers at the Antoinette Tubman Stadium to help Liberia to a 5-0 win.

He finished the Nations Cup qualifiers with five goals from five games while scoring four goals from four games in the FIFA world cup qualifiers.

While Jebor was a hot commodity of Lone Star for his goal scoring ability, he had a difficult time with his former second tier Spanish club, Ponferradina. From 23 appearances, he was only able to score two times. He scored his first for the club in the Copa Del Rey against Eibar, before scoring his only league goal against Huesca.

Jebor may be competing with some of Africa’s bigger stars for the prestigious award, but his inclusion in top 30 players in Africa will nevertheless be welcomed by many Liberians who have long been waiting for such since the era of George Weah.

The full list of nominees:

1. Riyad Mahrez ( Algeria and Leicester City)
2. Islam Slimani (Algeria and Leicester City)
3. Eric Bailly (Cote d’Ivoire and Manchester United)
4. Samuel Eto’o (Cameroun and Antalyaspor)
5. Victor Wanyama (Kenya and Tottenham)
6. John Mikel Obi (Nigeria and Chelsea)
7. William Jebor (Liberia and Wydad)
8. Kelechi Ihenancho (Nigeria and Manchester City)
9. Khama Billiat (Zimbabwe and Mamelodi Sundowns)
10. Dennis Onyango (Uganda and Mamelodi Sundowns)
11. Wahbi Khazri (Tunisia and Sunderland)
12. Aymen Abdennour (Tunisia and Valencia)
13. Mbwana Samatta (Tanzania and Genk)
14. Itumeleng Khune (South Africa And Kaizer Chiefs)
15. Keegan Dolly (South Africa and Mamelodi Sundowns)
16. Kalidou Koulibaly (Senegal and Napoli)
17. Sadio Mane ( Senegal and Liverpool)
18. Yannick Bolasie (DR Congo and Everton)
19. Cadric Bakambu (DR Congo and Villareal)
20. Ahmed Musa (Nigeria and Leicester City)
21. Hakim Ziyech (Morocco and Ajax)
22. Mehdi Benatia (Morocco and Juventus)
23. Andre Ayew (Ghana and West Ham)
24. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Gabon and Dortmund)
25. Mohammed El Neny (Egypt and Arsenal)
26. Mohammed Salah (Egypt and Roma)
27. Yao Kouasi Gervais (Cote d’Ivoire and Hebei Fortune)
28. Serge Aurier (Cote d’Ivoire and PSG)
29. Benjamin Mounkandjo (Cameroun and Lorient)
30. El Arabi Hillel Soudani (Algeria and Dinamo Zagreb)

Featured photo courtesy of T. Kla Wesley Jr.