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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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