Kickoff (Cape Town)
11 January 2009
The Chelsea duo of Michael Essien and Didier Drogba face competition from Arsenal's Emmanuel Adebayor and a pair of Egyptians in the race to be named African Player of 2008.
The Confederation of African Football confirmed yesterday (Saturday) that Egypt's Mohamed Aboutrika and Amr Zaki, who play for Al-Ahly and Wigan respectively, Togos Adebayor, Ghanaian Essien and Ivorian Drogba were the five players nominated for the annual individual award.
France-born Mali international Frederic Kanoute won the 2007 African Player Award.
According to Caf spokesman Suleimanu Habuba, the awards ceremony earlier scheduled for January 23 in Senegal will now take place in Nigeria on February 10, the same time as the CAF General Assembly.
Meanwhile, in Europe, everyone whose who in football will be heading for the Zurich Opera House tomorrow, when Fifa will be hosting its 2008 Fifa World Player Gala, in which the men's and women's player of the year will be crowned.
The format has changed slightly since the 2007 edition, at which Brazilians Kaka and Marta took top honours.
Not only has the ceremony moved from December to January, but for the first time there are five nominees vying for just one prize in the men's and women's categories, guaranteeing even more drama than usual.
In the women's category, the mercurial Brazilian Marta, who remains as hungry as ever for individual and team accolades.
However, very keen to relieve Marta of her title will be her Seleção strike partner, Cristiane, German bronze medallists from Beijing, Birgit Prinz and Nadine Angerer, as well as the classy England attacker Kelly Smith.
Laying claim in the men's section are Cristiano Ronaldo who finished top scorer en route to winning the English Premier League with Manchester United in 2008, Lionel Messi who picked up his second Olympic gold medal and continues to dazzle almost every time he takes the field.
Two others with strong claims are Barcelona's sublime playmaker, Xavi, and Liverpool's unerring goalscorer, Fernando 'El Ni-o' Torres.
Brazil have provided the most winners (8) in the men's category, thanks to Romario, Rivaldo, Ronaldo (3), Ronaldinho (2) and Kaka.
Next comes France with three top spots, all won by the inimitable Zinedine Zidane, then Italy with two crowns courtesy of Roberto Baggio (1993) and Fabio Cannavaro (2006), the latter being the only defender to receive the accolade to date.
Another milestone was George Weah's coronation in 1995, when he became the first and to date only African player to lift the coveted award.
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