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Drogba and Essien likely to head African awards list
(Reuters)
Updated: 2005-11-04 09:26
JOHANNESBURG, Nov 3 (Reuters) - Chelsea team mates Didier Drogba and Michael Essien are likely to head the list of five finalists for this year's African Footballer of the Year award when it is announced next week.
Didier Drogba |
The Confederation of African Football said the nominees would be named in Lagos on Monday.
Ivory Coast's Drogba and Ghana's Essien helped their countries to qualify for the World Cup finals for the first time this year.
Drogba scored nine goals for his country while Essien made an equally vital contribution with key goals in Ghana's successful march to a place at the 2006 tournament in Germany.
Drogba also featured in Chelsea's English Premier League winning team and scored in their League Cup final success against Liverpool earlier in the year.
Essien was pivotal to Olympique Lyon's retention of their French league crown and voted the Ligue 1's player of the year last season before moving to England in August.
The Chelsea pair face strong opposition from reigning Footballer of the Year Samuel Eto'o, seeking to win it for a record-equalling third time.
Eto'o is also strongly fancied for the award despite Cameroon's failure to reach the World Cup finals. He finished top goal scorer in the Spanish league and helped Barcelona to the title this year.
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