WHO DOES THE CROWN FITS?

Eto’O Seeks Place In History Book As Gyan Wants First Time Success
It’s All Naija Affair As Mbachu, Nkwocha, Orji Battle For Women’s Prize

The race to be 2010 CAF Footballer of the Year climaxes today in Cairo, Egypt when the winner will be announced by the Confederation of African Football at an awards night tonight. The the trio of Didier Drogba, Samuel Eto’o and Asamoah Gyan will battle for the coveted title.
Chelsea striker and Ivory Coast captain Drogba was voted number one last year, but is the outsider this time with Eto’o and Gyan boasting stronger claims to fame.A surprise win for him will make him equal Samuel Eto’o's feats as the only man to have won the ttitle three times.
Eto’o,who is gunning for an unprecendented fourth win and is favourite to win helped Inter Milan win the Italian and Champions League titles and the Italian Cup although Cameroon flopped under his captaincy at the African Nations Cup and World Cup tournaments.Only at the weekend he scored again to help Inter Milan win their fourth title in 2010-the FIFA World Club Cup.
Gyan, a close-season signing by Sunderland from Rennes, did not have the same impact at club level, but his goals propelled Ghana to the Nations Cup final and World Cup quarterfinals.
The Black Star was also a World Cup villain as he struck the crossbar with a penalty in the dying seconds of extra time against Uruguay and had he scored Ghana would have become the first World Cup semi-finalists from Africa.
The first man to have been named African footballer of the Year twice remains veteran Nigerian forward Kanu Nwankwo,in 1996 and 1999 with Drogba duplicating the feat in 2006 and 2009.
It will be an all Nigeria affair in the contest for the  Women’s Footballer of the Year with Stella Mbachu, Perpetua Nkwocha and Ebere Orji vying for the bragging rights to the top female footballer title.
Teammates Nkwocha and Mbachu won top goal scorer and most valuable player of the tournament awards respectively at last month’s 7th Africa Women Championship in South Africa. That  all conquering Nigeria Women’s team which won in South Africa is up against their fellow country women’s U20 side that reached but lost the final against hosts Germany in the FIFA Wommen’s u    -20 World Cup,becoming the first African women’s team to claim a medal at FIFA tournament.
PAST WINNERS
1992 Abedi AYEW PELÉ (Ghana)
1993 Rashidi YEKINI (Nigeria)
1994 Emmanuel AMUNIKE (Nigeria)
1995 George WEAH (Liberia)
1996 Nwankwo KANU (Nigeria)
1997 Victor IKPEBA (Nigeria)
1998 Mustapha HADJI (Morocco)
1999 Nwankwo KANU (Nigeria)
2000 Patrick MBOMA (Cameroon)
2001 El-Hadji DIOUF (Senegal)
2002 El Hadji DIOUF (Senegal)
2003 Samuel ETO’O (Cameroon)
2004 Samuel ETO’O (Cameroon)
2005 Samuel ETO’O (Cameroon)
2006 Didier DROGBA (Cote d’Ivoire)
2007 Frédéric KANOUTE (Mali)
2008 Emmanuel ADEBAYOR (Togo)
2009 Didier DROGBA (Cote d’Ivoire)
ALL THE NOMINEES
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
a) Didier Drogba
b) Samuel Eto’o Fils
c) Asamoah Gyan
AFRICAN-BASED
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
a) Alain Dioko
b) Mohamed Nagui Gedo
c) Ahmed Hassan
MOST PROMISING TALENT OF THE YEAR
a) Kwadwo Asamoah (Udinese and Ghana)
b) Ryad Boudebouz (Sochaux and Algeria)
c) Moussa Maazou (Bordeaux and Niger)
WOMEN’S FOOTBALLER OF THE YEAR
a) Stella Mbachu (Nigeria)
b) Perpetua Nkwocha (Sunnana SK and Nigeria)
c) Ebere Orji (Nigeria U-20)
CLUB OF THE YEAR
a) CS Sfaxien (Tunisia)
b) FUS Rabat (Morocco)
c) TP Mazembe (DR Congo)
NATIONAL TEAM
OF THE YEAR
a) Algeria
b) Egypt
c) Ghana
WOMEN’S NATIONAL TEAM OF THE YEAR
a) Equatorial Guinea
b) Nigeria senior team
c) Nigeria U-20 women
COACH OF THE YEAR
a) LamineN’Diaye ) Mazembe)
B) MilovanRajevac – (Former Ghana Coach)
c) Hassan Shehata (Egypt)