ACTUALITE |
22.11.2001
Who Will Be Africa`s Best?
WHO will be the 2001 African Footballer of the Year? That is the question that has raised intense debate across Africa as the days drift towards the announcement of the winner by the Confederation of African Football.
The Confederation has already shortlisted 50 candidates. Zimbabwe though, along with its neighbours Botswana, Zambia, Malawi, Namibia and Mozambique, does not have a single player on the list. This speaks volumes of the plummeting football standards in the region.
From South Africa, however, come three candidates-Shaun Bartlett who plays for Charlton Athletic in the English Premier League: Sibuziso Zuma of FC Copenhagen in Denmark; and Bennett Mguni of Sundowns and one of the few Africa-based players to make it into the top 50.
Only two of the past winners, Patrick Mboma of Cameroon who plays for Parma in the Italian Serie A, and Mustapha Hadji of Aston Villa in England, are among the nominees.
Other notable top players on the list include Victor Agalli of Nigeria, Samuel Eto fils of Cameroon, Ibrahim Bakayoko of Ivory Coast, and Noureedine Naybet of Morocco. The likes of Nwanko Kanu, Titi Camara, Rigobert Song, and Austin Okocha, have failed to make the grade.
Members of the Caf technical and media committees are expected to send their votes before the end of this month. The top three will be announced in December and the winner of the 2001 African best footballer award will be announced on the occasion of the African Soccer Awards ceremony to be held in South Africa in April.
A survey across the globe by the British Broadcasting Corporation has seen Samuel Osei Kuffor of Ghana, Mohammed Kallon of Sierra Leone, and El Hadji Diouf of Senegal emerge as the leading contenders.
Here`s how they are viewed in Africa: "I will go for Mohammed Kallon. He has put the name of Sierra Leone on the football map. Being able to come out a top player in a team like Inter Milan, and fill the place of Ronaldo, is no mean achievement for such a young player," says Solomon Agyemfra of Ghana.
"Without doubt, Hadji Diouf has been the most inspiring, reliable, influential, and prolific player on the African continent, be it playing for Senegal or Lens. Diouf gets my nod for African Footballer of the Year," says Arthur Goldie of Cameroon.
"I think Samuel Osei Kuffor deserves to be the African Footballer of the Year. I have followed his exploits in Europe and I must say there is currently no African defender of his calibre plying his trade anywhere. He is a very patient but resilient defender an is very good especially when it comes to man-marking," says Cletus Baidoo of the Bayern Munich defender.
Diouf, however, is the favourite for the title. Against all odds, he led Senegal to the forthcoming World Cup and the African Cup of Nations finals, scoring eight goals in three consecutive matches. What makes the success of the Senegalese player sweeter was that in their campaign for a place in the World Cup finals, they overcame the aristocrats of African football-Morocco, Egypt and Algeria.
On the other hand, Kuffor, despite shining brightly for Bayern Munich, refused to play for his country in the World Cup and African Cup qualifiers, while Kallon was unable to propel Sierra Leone to the African Cup of Nations. This, it appears, gives Diouf, who sparkled for both club and country, the advantage.
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