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MARCH 12, 2007 VOL. 20. NO 22

Rewarding a Patient Dog

**Isa Hayatu, CAF President.**

Cote d’ lvoire and Chelsea of England’s top marksman, Didier Drogba, emerges Africa’s best footballer of the year 2006 – after what appeared like a long wait
By Innocent Chukwu
The 2007 edition of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) awards, co-organsied by Nigerian telecommunication giant, Globacom, was full of thrilling moments. Infact, the ecstasy was expected the moment the host country, Ghana enthusiastically flung its doors open to both participants and spectators from other countries without entry visa.
At the Accra International Hall, a 1,000-seater auditorium where the event was hosted, other notable African sporting personalities were also handed prestigious awards, apart from the prized CAF player of the year award. These include awards for the CAF female player of the year, best footballing country of the year, best club of the year, young player of the year (male and female) and the Glo-CAF Platinum Award for an outstanding government official who used his good offices to promote sports and peaceful co-existence in Africa.
Notably, the major award – the African Footballer of the year – which was regarded as a clash of the continent’s best three strikers, who also slogged it out the previous year at Abuja, Nigeria venue of the 2006 show. was this time around resolved in favour of Drogba. Last year, Camerounian and Barcelona attacker, Samuel Eto’O, beat Drogba of Cote d’lvoire and Chelsea of England narrowly, with just two votes to become the best African player for 2005, making it the third time he was voted to the enviable position
Drogba, who could not attend the 2006 edition and Ghana’s Michael Essien emerged first and second runners-up. But for the 2007 edition, the three strikers so endeared themselves to the fans’ heart by improving on their performance and were once again nominated as the three finalists in this year’s event.
Eto’O, 26, struggled to put up an outstanding performance last year as he helped his clubside, Barcelona of Spain, to win the European Union (EUFA) Champions league trophy in May 2006. His goal-scoring profile also rose in the Spanish league, evidently helping Barcelona retain its domestic title. On the home front, the prolific attacker and striker also emerged the highest goal- scorer at the 2006 edition of the African Nations Cup finals in Egypt.
Even though Eto’O lost a crucial penalty in the Nations Cup finals in Egypt, which led to the elimination of his country, Cameroun by Cote d’ lvoire in the quarter finals, his emergence as the highest goal scorer added to his chances of winning the CAF award for a historic fourth time.
But his inability to lead Cameroun to star among other top footballing nations of the world in the 2006 FiFA World Cup finals in Germany, as well as a knee injury that kept him off the pitch for four months last year, may have contributed to why he was to concede defeat to Drogba.
Yet, selectors of the Camerounian indefatigable marksman, argue that in those agonising months, he was able to help his club, Barcelona to a second successive Spanish primera liga title and also ended the season as highest goal- scorer in the La liga.
However, sympathy, ostensibly, appeared to be tifled to the side of the 28- years old Ivorien striker, Drogba considering the narrow defeat he conceded to Eto’O in last year’s award and his standard ability to perform for both country and club, Chelsea last year, with little or no constraint.
Drogba has as part of his record as skipper of the lvoiren national team in the 2006 African Cup of Nation in Egypt, the magical strides and strikes which took his country to its first-ever FIFA World Cup. Drogba, however, lost a penalty shoot-out in the match between his country and host, Egypt, at the continental finals, thus giving the pharaohs the opportunity to lift the cup as winners.
In his club, Chelea, his fans adjudge him as having kept the club aglow in 2006. His untiring performances even stunned his coach, Jose Mourinho, who had no better way of motivating him than to award him the title of “the best striker in the world at the moment.” Drogba had sensationally scored the two goals that sent a brilliant Arsenal side crashing when both sides met on Sunday, February 25, at the Carling Cup final. He has also scored 17 goals in the premiership league and 28 goals in all the competitions he participated in, this season.
In fact, Drogba’s current form and performance are being rated higher than those of Argentina’s Hernan Crespo and Andriv Shevchenko of Ukraine, both his teammates. But Drogba faced the biggest challenge of contesting against his club’s dependable midfielder cum striker, the Ghana-born Michael Essien. The more youthful Essien, 24, radiates with life and enthusiasm, making Mourinho to brand him the “best footballer in the world.”
Essien, who was the third candidate last year, also has the same club credentials as Drogba, but in addition, he (Essien) was in the Ghanain team that got to the second round (16) of the World Cup finals in Germany last year, even though it was Ghana’s debut appearance at the world event.
However, Essien, like Eto’O was bogged down by injury which earlier in the year kept him out of the Nation’s cup in Egypt.