[ 2011-11-19 ]

Andre Ayew named for BBC African Player of the Year award
Ghana midfielder Andre Dede Ayew is among the five
candidates for the 2011 BBC African Footballer.

The Ivorian pair of Yaya Toure and Gervinho as
well as Cameroonian Samuel Eto’o and Mali’s
Seydou Keita also made the shortlist.

The winner will be decided by African football
fans, who have until 9 December to vote for their
choice.

Voting for the award will take place via text and
online.

The winner will be announced a week later on 16
December on the BBC’s Sport Today programme.

Both Manchester City striker Yaya Toure and
Arsenal midfielder Gervinho starred for Ivory
Coast as they qualified for the 2012 Africa Cup of
Nations by winning all their matches.

Toure scored the winner for Manchester City as
they won the FA Cup while Gervinho was
instrumental in Lille’s double in France before
he moved to Arsenal.

Ayew, who is one of Ghana’s key players, helped
Marseille to win the French League Cup and Super
Cup while Mali’s Seydou Keita was part of
Barcelona’s historic Champions League winning
team.

Eto’o netted 21 goals for Italian side Inter
Milan before leaving for Russian Anzhi Makhachkala
in August and has scored seven goals in eight
matches so far this season.

The shortlist was determined by a panel of experts
across Africawho took into consideration
individual skill, technical ability, teamwork,
consistency, impact on results and fair play.

“This shortlist reinforces the importance of
African footballers to Europe’s top clubs. It
will be intriguing to see who triumphs in the
end,” the BBC’s African Football blogger Piers
Edwards said.

Last year’s winner Asamoah Gyan narrowly missed
out on the shortlist.

Source - MyjoyOnline

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