The games have been played. The scores have been tallied. The winners have been celebrated. Now, the king is about to be crowned.
The Glo-CAF awards have come around once again, and we have three of Africa’s finest players on the forefront as nominees. Representing Ghana is Michael Essien, Emmanuel Adebayor is standing for Togo, and Mohamed Aboutrika is holding the flag for Egypt.
While all these players have some really exceptional qualities that qualified them for this stage, one of them will still be chosen as the Confederation of African Football Player of the Year Winner. This choice will be made based on qualifications.
On running a cursory survey on the general disposition towards the match, it will quickly be made obvious that most people favour Adebayor for the title. According to these supporters, the reasons are quite obvious.
Togolese player, Emmanuel Adebayor, has shown great and dazzling prospects in the last year following the departure of his France International team mate, Henry Thierry, who left their English Premier League Club, Arsenal, in favour of Spanish club, Barcelona FC. Following the exit of Henry, Adebayor has really upped the ante in his club, boasting of a repertoire of about 30 goals tally in the past year.
He not only boosted the morale of his Premier League Club, but also motivated the Hawks of Togo, where they were able to get to the qualifying round of the 2010 World Cup and The African Cup of Nations.
His chances of winning have been further enhanced by the support he has received from Football giants Didier Drogba and Samuel Eto’o. Drogba and Eto’o are also past winners of the CAF Player of the Year Awards.
Drogba said Adebayor deserved the award because of his output and performance in the past year. He highlighted the fact that Adebayor’s performance in Arsenal in the past year was worth rewarding.
Samuel Eto’o, who has won three of Africa football’s Star Individual prize, said that while he and Drogba were recovering from their injuries, Adebayor was busy conquering Europe.
Adebayor’s closest opponent for the title would be the Al Ahly forward, Mohamed Aboutrika. He has shown consistency for the past four years, and has shown much impact in the area of African football. He scored the only goal in the final rounds in the 2008 Nations Cup in Ghana. That was against Cameroon.
Nine months after that he stood proud after leading the Red Devils of Cairo in the defeat of another Cameroonian team, Cotonsport of Agora, to win the trophy of the African Championship.
Despite all these achievements, some spectators feel that the fact that Aboutrika plays only in Africa, and not in Europe, would be a severe disadvantage. However, former Super Eagles of Nigeria Captain, Austin Jay-Jay Okocha, said that that should be an advantage, and not a disadvantage.
The fact that Ghanaian and Chelsea Player, Michael Essien, plays the defending position, and as such is in a disadvantage when it comes to goal-scoring, makes some think he would not win the award.
Whatever, the case, if either Emmanuel Adebayor, Mohamed Aboutrika or Michael Essien is selected winner of this award, it would really be something, as neither of them has been a past winner of the Globacom-CAF prestigious award.
