Victor Boniface has been rewarded by the fans for a splendid first season in the German top flight, being named in the prestigious Bundesliga Team of the Season.
He joins Serhou Guirassy as the two African players on the list.
The Super Eagles striker has been a consistent stellar performer for Xabi Alonso’s Bayer Leverkusen with 19 goals, eleven of which were recorded in the Bundesliga, where he provided eight assists despite being injured for almost four months.
The 23-year-old made the cut alongside six other Leverkusen players on account of their heroics for the new German champions.
Leading the attack in the Team of the Season is England skipper and Bayern Munich striker Harry Kane, flanked by Boniface and Guirassy on the left and right, respectively.
In the midfield, Leverkusen have two representatives in Granit Xhaka and elite play-maker Florian Wirtz, with Bayern Munich’s Jamal Musiala completing the trio.
In the defence, Leverkusen’s Alex Grimaldo, Jeremie Frimpong, and Tah, as well as Stuttgart’s Anton, also made the cut, while Gregor Kobel of Borussia Dortmund is the goalkeeper.
Meanwhile, Boniface and his Leverkusen teammates can move a step closer to becoming the first team in history to go an entire Bundesliga season unbeaten by avoiding defeat at Eintracht Frankfurt on Sunday (today).
Die Werkself are the first team in Bundesliga history to go unbeaten through the first 31 matches of a season.
Leverkusen stretched their record unbeaten streak to 47 consecutive fixtures with a 2-0 win away at Roma during the week, which puts them in the driving seat in their UEFA Europa League semi-final first leg, with the return leg set for BayArena on Thursday.
It leaves the prospect of a treble very much on for Leverkusen, including the dangling carrot of becoming the first team ever to go through an entire Bundesliga season without defeat.
They’ve left it late at times, with added-time goals salvaging draws in their last two league outings against VfB Stuttgart and Borussia Dortmund, stalemates that saw Alonso and his staff facing down the touchline in ecstasy.
The Spaniard won’t be able to do that this weekend as he serves a suspension for four yellow cards, meaning he’ll be watching from the stands as assistants Sebastian Parilla and Alberto Encinas call the shots from the bench.
See the full list of the team below:
Goalkeeper
Gregor Kobel (Borussia Dortmund)
Defenders
Jeremie Frimpong (Bayer Leverkusen)
Jonathan Tah (Bayer Leverkusen)
Waldemar Anton (VfB Stuttgart)
Alejandro Grimaldo (Bayer Leverkusen)
Midfielders
Jamal Musiala (Bayern Munich)
Granit Xhaka (Bayer Leverkusen)
Florian Wirtz (Bayer Leverkusen)
Attackers
Serhou Guirassy (VfB Stuttgart)
Harry Kane (Bayern Munich)
Victor Boniface (Bayer Leverkusen)
