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| Yaya Toure |
the Manchester City midfielder has been named the CAF African Footballer of the Year.
The 30-year old Cote d'Ivoire international wins the award , in a ceremony in Lagos, Nigeria, beating off competition from John Obi Mikel and Didier Drogba - who came second and third, respectively.
Toure is only the second player to win the award for three consecutive years, with Samuel Eto'o claiming the prize between 2003 and 2005.
The recipient of the award is decided by national team coaches and technical directors in Africa - with Eto'o the most-honoured individual with four
Most Nigerians however taught Mikel Obi, would have won the award going by his exploits and team successes with club and country in 2013. The Last time a Nigerian won the award was in 1999 by Kanu Nwankwo.
Golden Eaglets’ star, Kelechi Iheanacho, unsurprisingly won the ‘Most Promising Talent’ Award. Ihenacho was the most decorated at the 2013 FIFA Under-17 World Cup, winning the tournament’s Adidas Golden Ball Award for the overall best player, alongside the Silver Boot Award for being the second highest goal scorer, as he helped Nigeria to its 4th title to become the most successful team in the history of the age grade competition.
The Nigerian Super Eagles Coach, Stephen Keshi, was also named ‘African Coach of the Year’ for winning the CAF Cup in 2013. Keshi is the first Nigerian to win the Nations’ Cup as player and coach, and only the second African coach to do so after Egypt’s Mahmoud El-Gohary.
Other winners at the awards were Egyptian, Mohammed Aboutreika, who beat Nigeria’s African Nations’ Cup final hero, Sunday Mba, to win the ‘African Player of the Year based in Africa’, while the ‘Club of the Year’ went to Al Ahly FC of Egypt.
The ‘Referee of the Year’ award went to Algerian, Haimoudi Djamel, who officiated the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations Final between Nigeria and Burkina Faso, and also officiated the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup play-off for third place between Uruguay and Italy.
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