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“To be a great champion you must believe you are the best. If you're not, pretend you are.” – Muhammad Ali

Thursday, November 10, 2011

African Player of the Year shortlist

The Confederation of African Football has named the 10 players that are in line to win the 2011 Caf African Footballer of the Year award.

The list includes three members of Ghana’s senior side, the Black Stars. They are Olympique Marseille’s mercurial Andre Ayew, former Sunderland striker Asamoah Gyan and AC Milan’s Kevin-Prince Boateng who has recently retired from international football.

The Ivory Coast also has three players on the shortlist – Chelsea superstar Didier Drogba, Yaya Toure of Manchester City and new Arsenal signing Gervinho, who helped French side Lille to the league title in May.

Yaya Toure on the rampage
The rest of the players on the 2011 list are Senegal and Lille hit-man Moussa Sow, Adel Taarabt of Morocco and Queens Park Rangers, Mali’s Barcelona star Seydou Keita and Cameroon’s Samuel Eto’o who now plies his trade in Russia for Anzhi Makhachkala.

Eto’o won last year’s African Player of the Year award in Egypt for what was a record fourth time.

The 10-man shortlist will be trimmed to five. Three final nominees for the award will then be revealed.

The winner will be then announced at the awards ceremony to be held at the Banquet Hall of the State House in Ghana on December 22.

2011 African Footballer of the Year shortlist
Andre Ayew (Ghana)
Asamoah Gyan (Ghana)
Kevin-Prince Boateng (Ghana)
Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast)
Yaya Toure (Ivory Coast)
Gervinho (Ivory Coast)
Moussa Sow (Senegal)
Adel Taarabt (Morocco)
Seydou Keita (Mali)
Samuel Eto’o (Cameroon)

Past Caf African Footballer of the Year winners
1992: Abedi Pele Ayew (Marseille and Ghana)
1993: Rashidi Yekini (Victoria Setubal and Nigeria)
1994: Emmanuel Amunike (Sporting Lisbon, Zamalek and Nigeria)
1995: George Weah (AC Milan and Liberia)
1996: Nwankwo Kanu (Ajax Amsterdam/Inter Milan and Nigeria)
1997: Victor Ikpeba (Monaco and Nigeria)
1998: Mustapha Hadji (Deportivo La Coruna and Morocco)
1999: Nwankwo Kanu (Arsenal and Nigeria)
2000: Patrick Mboma (Parma/Cagliari and Cameroon)
2001: El Hadji Diouf (Lens and Senegal)
2002: El Hadji Diouf (Lens/Liverpool and Senegal)
2003: Samuel Eto’o (Real Mallorca, Spain and Cameroon)
2004: Samuel Eto’o (Real Mallorca/ Barcelona and Cameroon)
2005: Samuel Eto’o (Barcelona and Cameroon)
2006: Didier Drogba (Chelsea and Ivory Coast)
2007: Frederic Kanoute (Sevilla and Mali)
2008: Emmanuel Adebayor (Arsenal and Togo)
2009: Didier Drogba (Chelsea and Ivory Coast)
2010: Samuel Eto’o (Inter Milan and Cameroo)

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