2007 African Player of the Year Shortlist
The shortlist for the 2007 African Player of the Year is out, and current holder Didier Drogba is in contention again. The five players shortlisted are:
Didier Drogba (Chelsea and Ivory Coast)
Michael Essien (Chelsea and Ghana)
Emmanuel Adebayor (Arsenal and Togo)
Frederic Kanoute (Seville and Mali)
Mahamadou Diarra (Real Madrid and Mali)
The coaches of all 53 nations in the Confederation of African Football will vote, and the winner will be announced at a fancy dinner on Februaury 1st in Togo next year. Bizarrely, that’s smack bang in the middle of the African Cup of Nations so the players shortlisted will hope to be busy around that time (with the exception of Emmanuel Adebayor, since Togo failed to qualify.)
Drogba stands every chance of holding onto the award, looking unstoppable in a Chelsea shirt until his recent knee surgery. Last years runner up Samuel Eto’o has is out of contention for the 2007 award having spent most of it injured. Kanoute is an interesting inclusion, as he’d be the first European born winner having been born in Lyon and represented French youth teams before switching to Mali, where he’s teamed up with Mahamadou Diarra, “the lungs” of Real Madrid’s midfield. Not sure about Emmanuel Adebayor’s chances. He’s been good on his day for Arsenal, but hasn’t contributed much to Togo thanks to the infamous row over bonus payments that nearly ruined Togo’s World Cup. So I’ll be pulling for Michael Essien. This will be the third time in a row the Ghanaian midfielder has been shortlisted, finishing behind Eto’o and Drogba in 2005 and 2006, so it’s about time he finally got his hands on the award.
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Comments
By Brad | December 12th, 2007 at 3:18 pm 
It’s awesome to see the strength of West African football. After Ghana, Ivory Coast and Togo qualified for the 06 World Cup, and the exploits of Senegal in the 02 Cup, can anyone argue against West Africa being the hottest pool of football talent on the continent?
Posted from 
Canada
By Massaer | December 14th, 2007 at 7:42 pm Just wait until the academies in Dakar, Abidjan and Lomé start dishing out the teenagers they’ve been forming AT HOME in the 2016 WC. That will be madness
Posted from 
France
By ADANG SAMBA | December 19th, 2007 at 1:58 pm “Samuel Eto’o” deseves to be among the top five players and stand a chance to be voted for African Player of the Year.Despite the Fact that he was injured for a 2 months doesn’t mean he does not play well.He has been back for only 2 weeks and he has scored three(3) goals already.Please do give him a Chance to be voted for.
By jude kimengsi | February 1st, 2008 at 5:53 am i think emmanuel adebayor has proven beyond doubts that he can be the best african player for this year. and the decision to leave HE samuel eto,o (pichichi) is ok because he has been out of action for long. i think its time for the ‘rats’ to enjoy now that the ‘cat’(eto,o) is away.
By jude kimengsi | February 1st, 2008 at 6:00 am i think eto,o as had enough of it already he is a fantastic boy and will have other trophees not this one. already he is the logo of the 2010 worldcup. he is also the current highest goal scorer of the african cup of nations and als highest in the history of the tournament. where ever he goes, an award follows him. he is indeed the millenium\golden boy.
posted from cameroon
By ticha julius | February 8th, 2008 at 2:05 pm HAS THE PLAYER OF THE YEAR ALREDY BEEN ELLECTED. AND I ALSO WISH TO APPLY FOR THE AFRICAN SCHOLARSHIP SO I WILL LIKE YOU TO GIVE ME MORE DETAILS ON HOW TO APPLY.
By ticha julius | February 8th, 2008 at 2:11 pm I also wish to find out why Eto,o is not amost the sellected players or is b/c he has had enough for he wes to be there
By julius asamoah | April 15th, 2008 at 5:55 am yes this is the time michael essien has to get his award for the african best this year ….if caf dont try and give essien,it means they hate ghana simple….what did drogba kanoute play/?i dont even know kanoute…this is a very big cheat bcos kanoite hasnt even had any intenational award before …pls fifa should select the one he thinks he can be africa best footballer of the year
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