The 1985 African Player of the Year. Naturally, the list reflects on success, so those excelling in the African international scene came on top. European-based players were not strongly presented: only 4 in the top 10 list. Roger Milla (St. Etienne and Cameroon) shared 10th position with Wa Mbati Mobati (AS Bilima and Zaire). Jules-Francois Bocande (Metz and Senegal) was 9th, Youssouf Fofana (Monaco and Cote d’Ivoir) was 6th, and Rabah Madjer (FC Porto and Algeria) – 2nd. However strange, the great Cameroonian goalkeepers ended very low: N’Kono (Espanol Barcelona) shared 22nd position with 6 other players and 4 points. Bell (Olympique Marseille) was 33rd with 2 points, along with 6 others. It is highly unlikely that the European based players – especially Madjer, playing already key role in soaring FC Porto – were weaker than African-based players, but all depends on what is in front of the eye. Madjer was very distant 2nd with his 45 points: the winner got 113 points, there was no contest.
The undisputed winner was Mohammed Timoumi.
Mohammed Timoumi deserved to be number one, though – the 25-years old Moroccan played for FAR Rabat and was instrumental for its African Champions Cup triumph. He debuted in 1975 and already had 10 years of competitive football, having been regular for FAR since 1981. He already had about 50 caps for the national team of Morocco and since Morocco was playing strong football and going to the 1986 World Cup finals, it was not just club-football success. Timoumi was the second Moroccan player voted the best in Africa, but it could be said that Timoumi’s impact was greater than the 1975 winner Ahmed Faras. Yet, there is remaining question mark – winners did not last for some reason. Only Thomas N’Kono was voted best twice. Great and historically important players like Salif Keita, Jean Manga Onguene, and Cherif Souleymane won once each and in the case of Manga Onguene, a bit too late. Was it inconsistency, or Africa was bursting with talent, every year one better than those before? The Algerian Lakhdar Belloumi was number 1 in 1981 and now distant 7th. But he did not move to Europe, which could be seen in two ways as well: may be he was not all that good to attract European interest, or he chose to play at home for the glory of Algerian football. The eternal African dillema… promote local based talent or bow to European-based professionals, who nobody sees at home. One thing was certain, though: FC Porto was much stronger than FAR Rabat and playing for it was recognition of class – playing for an African club, however successful, could be only a stepping stone to real career. But no matter – at the end it was great day for Timoumi, a fine ending of wonderful season and more was to come. Including European recognition.