Football Update: Nominations For African Player Of The Year
The nominations for African Player of the Year have been announced, with a lot of surprises. This year, three of the top players from English Premier League, i.e. Michael Essien, Yaya Toure and Emmanuel Adebayor, have failed to make it into the shortlist
of ten players.
Two of the players from Chelsea have made it on the list. These players are Didier Drogba and Salomon Kalou. Asamoah Gyan of Sunderland and Ghana has made it on the list. However, the favourite would be Samuel Eto’o, who plays for Inter Milan and Cameroon.
There are two other players from Ghana who have been shortlisted. Apart from Gyan, the two players are Kevin-Prince Boateng and Andre Ayew. Seydou Keita of Barcelona has also been nominated for this year’s award.
This year’s FIFA World Cup was played in South Africa, with a lot of expectations from the African teams. The biggest expectations were from Drogba’s Ivory Coast, but the great African striker suffered a broken arm before the competition. Also, his teammates
failed to impress at all, as they failed to even go past the opening stage of the World Cup. Due to this reason, not many African players have been nominated because of their World Cup performances, unlike the nominations for FIFA Ballon d’Or.
Didier Drogba and Salomon Kalou have been doing well for Chelsea this season. The London giants won the league title and FA Cup last season and have continued to dominate the league. Both the African stars have played an important role under Carlo Ancelotti,
with a lot of goals under their belt. Their performances have been vital in getting them a nomination for the award, but this might not be enough to win it.
Seydou Keita of Barcelona is also playing an important part in the Pep Guardiola’s squad. However, Barcelona was not as successful, last season, as their treble winning season. Also, Keita is only a secondary player, who is easily replaceable under certain
circumstances. His national side Mali has not been doing great in Africa, which makes him less likely to win the award as well.
With the abysmal performances by African teams in the World Cup, the only ray of hope was brought by Ghana. It was the only African nation that advanced from the knock out stages, and they moved further into the quarter finals before being held by Uruguay
on penalties. Ghana featured in the final of African Cup of Nations. The team was led by their striker Gyan, who scored three goals in each of the competitions. By far, he was the best African performer in the World Cup, which has also helped him in getting
a nomination for Ballon d’Or.
Gyan was helped by his teammates, as Boateng and Ayew are also on the list. However, the contribution of Gyan is much more than the rest of his teammates. Therefore, he would be one of the favourites to win the award, if more consideration is given to FIFA
World Cup.
However, among all these nominations, the favourite player is Samuel Eto’o of Inter Milan. Eto’o, who has won the award on three previous occasions, moved to Inter from Barcelona at the beginning of last season, after winning a famous treble. The fortunes
continued to flow for the striker, who won another incredible treble with his new club. Although, he was not as instrumental as some of his other teammates, but he remains the most decorated African player of the last season. Also, he has been doing great
in Champions League this season, scoring seven goals so far. Therefore, Eto’o remains the favourite to win this year’s award.
In football terms, Africa is constantly on the rise. All these players have been tremendous while some of them are indispensible for their clubs. Sooner or later, some of these players would be able to make it into the distinguished list of FIFA Ballon d’Or
winners as well.
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