Toure, Enyeama, Aubameyang Go Head-to Head
With the 2014 Glo-Caf Awards gathering momentum after the Confederation of African Football (CAF) on Christmas Day shortlisted the trio of Yaya Touré – Côte d’Ivoire), Vincent Enyeama (– Nigeria) and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (– Gabon for the last three o
The release of the list has led to high expectations across the continent on who should be the next King of African Football. Football pundits are busy making permutations on who deserves to wear the crown. But whoever emerges as winner, history would be made. Yaya Toure will be attempting to be the first player to win it four times after winning it in 2011, 2012 and 2013, while Vincent Enyeama will be the first goalkeeper to win it in 28 years. For Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, he will be the first Gabonese to be accorded with such honour if voted winner.
Reigning African Player of the Year, from Cote d’Ivoire was born on May 13, 1983. The Manchester City of England Player won the last three editions of the African Player of the Year Award and he is still at his peak. Yaya Touré has been a regular member of the Cote d’Ivoire national team since his debut in 2004. In 2006, he appeared for Éléphants in all three of the team's matches at its first ever World Cup. In the 2010 tournament, he again appeared in all of Côte d'Ivoire's matches, scoring the opening goal in a 3–0 win over North Korea.
Touré has represented Côte d'Ivoire at five Africa Cup of Nations tournaments; in 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012 and 2013. In the 2006 and 2012 editions, the team ended as runners-up. Touré was named in the CAF's team of the tournament in 2008 and 2012. He made his third World Cup appearance during the 2014 competition, and captained the team in their opening match, a 2–1 defeat of Japan in which he was named man of the match by FIFA. He also helped the Elepahants to qualify for the 2015 African Cup of Nations. At Manchester City, he is a cult figure and has been the driving force for the club. For the current 2014-15 season, the midfielder has found the back of the net five times in 11 games. Touré began his playing career at Ivorian club, ASEC Mimosas, where he made his debut aged 18. His performances attracted attention from Europe.
Touréplayedfor Beveren in Belgium, MetalurhDonetsk in Ukraine, Olympiacos in Greece, and AS Monaco in France. In 2007, Touré moved to Barcelona, playing over 100 matches for the club and was part of the historic 2009 Barcelona team which won six trophies in one calendar year. Yaya Touré then moved to Premier League club Manchester City in 2010, where he has since scored a number of key goals for the Citizens – most notable of which were the lone goals in the 2011 FA Cup semi-final and final. Touré has a distinguished international career with 82 caps for Ivory Coast.
The Gabonese is a professional footballer who plays for the German club Borussia Dortmund and the Gabon national football team. He was born on June 18, 1989. He is known for his pace, having clocked 30 meters in 3.7 seconds, and his capability of playing as a striker or a winger. He was on target three times for Gabon (a hat-trick against Niger) during the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers as Les Panthers failed to reach the Playoffs. He has however been in superb form at club level. He emerged second top scorer in Ligue 1 with 19 goals during 2012-13 seasons, and also guided Saint Etienne to the Coupe de La Ligue (French League Cup). In July 2013, he joined German side Borussia Dortmund and has scored ten times in all appearances. He also won the German Super Cup with Dortmund after a 4-2 win over Bayern Munich. He has been in a very good form for his club since the beginning of the current season.
Born on August 29, 1982 and currently plays for Lille FC in France. The achievement of Nigeria in football in the last decade cannot be complete without mentioning the name of Enyeama. The shot-stopper is simply the finest on the continent after superb showings at the Africa Cup of Nations, FIFA Confederations Cup in Brazil, 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers and the World Cup proper also in Brazil. He was named the safest pair of hands as Nigeria won the continental crown in South Africa earlier in 2013. He also made a name for himself with Lille in the French “Ligue 1” where they nick-named him “Jesus in goal” as he did not concede any goal from September 15 to December 7; maintaining an eye-popping 11 clean sheets from 16 games and 1035 minutes in total.
The winner will emerge on January 8 at the Glo-Caf gala nite at the Eko Hotels and Suites in Lagos.
25 names were initially released by CAF before it was pruned to three that will file to compete for the prized crown.