Ghana’s Ayew included in African player award shortlist

Mahmoud Mohamed, Thursday 15 Dec 2011

Ghana midfielder Andre Ayew is the only Ghanaian to be named in the 2011 African Footballer of the Year’s shortlist

Andre Ayew (C) of Olympique Marseille (Photo: Reuters)

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) named Ghana and Marseille midfielder Andre Ayew in the shortlist of five for the 2011 African Footballer of the Year.

The 22-year-old star is the only Ghanaian player to be included in the list after AC Milan’s Kevin-Prince Boateng and Sunderland’s Asamoah Gyan were ruled out of the initial list of ten.

Four-time African Player of the Year Cameroon’s Samuel Eto'o, Moussa Sow of Senegal, Ivory Coast Yahya Toure and Mali midfielder Seydou Keita have also been included in the five-man shortlist.

The winner will be decided by a vote of Africa’s national team coaches and announced at a 22 December ceremony in Accra, Ghana.

The shortlisted nominees are (in alphabetical order);

African Player of the Year 2011

Andre Ayew (Olympique Marseille and Ghana)
Samuel Eto’o (Anzhi Makhachkala and Cameroon)
Seydou Keita (Barcelona and Mali)
Moussa Sow (Lille and Senegal)
Yaya Toure (Manchester City and Cote d’Ivoire)

African Player of the Year 2011 (Based in Africa)

Oussama Darragi (Esperance Sportive de Tunis and Tunisia)
Zouhir Dhaouadi (Club Africain and Tunisia)
Banana Yaya (Esperance Sportive de Tunis and Cameroon)

National Team of the Year

Botswana
Cote d’Ivoire
Niger
Tunisia

Women’s National Team of the Year

Cameroon
Nigeria
South Africa

Club of the Year

Esperance Sportive de Tunis (Tunisia)
Maghreb Association Sportive of Fez (Morocco)
Wydad Athletic Club (Morocco)

Most Promising Talent of the Year

Ahmed Elshenawy (El-Masry and Egypt)
Souleymane Coulibaly (Tottenham Hotspurs and Cote d’Ivoire)
Ahmed Musa (VVV Venlo and Nigeria)

Coach of the Year

Harouna Doula (Niger)
Nabil Maaloul (Esperance Sportive de Tunis) - Tunisia
Stanley Tshosane (Botswana)

Women’s Footballer of the Year

Nompumelelo Nyandani (South Africa)
Perpetua Nkwocha (Nigeria)
Miriam Paixao Silva (Equatorial Guinea)