Former Ghana international Samuel Osei Kuffour feels he should have won the 1999 and 2001 CAF African Footballer of the Year awards.
Kuffour featured prominently for Bayern Munich in the 1998/99 season, helping them win the Bundesliga title and finishing second in the UEFA Champions League.
Despite his exploits that season, he lost out on the 1999 CAF APOTY award to Nwanko Kanu who had been absent for Arsenal and country Nigeria due to ill health.
Two years later, the Ghanaian once again inspired Bayern Munich to the clinch the Bundesliga, UEFA Champions League, and the Intercontinental Cup.
Then again, he suffered the same feat on the CAF podium after losing the African Player of the year award to Senegal’s El Hadji Diouf.
The 43-year-old believes he was unjustly denied those awards after he placed second on those both occasions.
"I think I should have won the two of them, because, in 1999, Kanu was injured for [almost] the whole year. He scored a hat-trick [against Chelsea] but how many games did he play? Last time, he and I were debating, we were talking about it," he told Goal.com
"Kanu and I go a long way, we have been very good friends. We were discussing the issue and it turned into laughter. For me, I think I deserved to win in 1999. Even the guy who came third, [Ibrahima] Bakayoko [of Mali] told me I deserved to win it.
He added, "In 2001, even for the BBC African Player of the Year, El-Hadji Diouf was not even part of it. It was me, Mohammed Kallon of Sierra Leone and Samuel Eto’o. So why should El-Hadji Diouf win [the Caf award]?"
"If you become the African Player of the Year, they [Caf] will call you to tell you. You have to choose the venue and date. And I did that: I chose the venue and date. Even today, a lot of people ask about that; they were shocked. How?
"You play Africa Cup of Nations in January and you didn’t win the trophy. I won the league, FA Cup, the Champions League, the Inter-continental Cup – I was the [Man of the Match], I was the best defender in the German league, so how? I don’t know. I don’t think about it. We talk about it and we laugh – me and my children."