6 Things You Don't Know About The New Glo/CAF African Footballer Of The Year; Aubameyang

The Glo/CAF awards, held Thursday 7 January 2015, in Abuja at the International Conference Centre, saw Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang emerge the new king of African football.

Since its inception in 1992, only Samuel Eto'o of Cameroon and Yaya Toure of Côte d'Ivoire - who won it four times consecutively immediately preceding this years’s- have won the much coveted award four times.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang defeated the Manchester City star and Andre Ayew, son of Ghana legend, Abedi Pelé; the first winner of the (CAF) African footballer of the year award in 1992.


Here are 6 things you didn’t know about Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang

Aubameyang Started His Youth Career At ACMilan

The Gabonese star made his very first cameo appearance and came to limelight in August 2007 in the inaugural Champions' Youth Cup held in Malaysia, appearing for the AcMilan's Youth team. Aubameyang had a string of Steller performances at the youth championship scoring against all the opponents that came up against his team in the championship. He finished the competition with seven goals to boot in six matches, making him the top scorer of the competition.

The Search For Relevance

Following his impressive performances with Acmilan youth team in 2007, Aubameyang was sent out on loan to three French clubs, Dijon, Lille, monaco and St Etienne between 2008 to 2011, in order to gain first team experience. Although he had impressive seasons at Monaco and St Etienne, he had a forgettable stint at Dijon. In December 2011, St Ettiene signed him on a permanent deal. In the 2012/13 season, he established himself as a key figure in the Ligue 1 side's campaign with 19 goals and 8 assists in 37 appearances, becoming the league’s second most prolific scorer. In 2013, Aubameyang left the club to join Dortumund.

The first Gabonese player to play in the Bundesliga.

When he made his debut in 2013 against Bayern Munich in the fourth edition of  DFL-Supercup -an annual football match contested for by the winners of the previous season's Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal competitions - he became the first Gabonese to appear in the Bundesliga

Proficiency: A goal per game

Incredible is the word to define Aubameyang's 2015 campaign with Borussia Dortmund. His 27 goals in 27 games for the Bundesliga side made the versatile attacker - who can player anywhere in the front three attacking positions - the top scorer in the Bundesliga in 2015 and launched him as one of the most prolific strikers in Europe. When he signed a new contract in July 2015, he said  "Every part of me wants to be here and I have never wanted to leave." He remained on the wish list of top European sides, with Arsenal leading the pack in the chase.

Bundesliga Goal Scoring Record

Aubameyang set a record when he scored his team's LONE goal in the 1-1 draw against 1899 Hoffenheim. The goal made him the first player in Bundesliga history to score In each of his team's opening six matches. Scoring in the subsequent two games against Darmstadt 98 and Bayern Munich saw him extend his own record to eight matches.

Aubameyang Becomes The First Player To Win The Award From Gabon

Following his debut appearance in the Gabonese national team in 2009, the Dortmund striker has quickly  become an integral part of the Gabonese national team. His announcement as the 2015 African footballer of the year makes him the first player ever from his country to win the biggest individual award in African football.