The African Player of the Year nominees were announced this weekend, with ten names gracing the list of the best individuals the continent has to offer. Some top players missed out on the award recognition, and Goal.com takes a look at a few that will be disappointed to have missed out.
Steven Pienaar (Everton/South Africa)
The Bafana midfield kingpin has been a crucial element of both South Africa's national team and club side Everton over the past year. With South Africa he played at the 2010 World Cup, held in his country, and although his performances were not up to his usual standards, he was the creative spark in midfield for Bafana, providing the attacking players with opportunities up front. Voted as Everton's player of the season and South African player of the year, Pienaar has been very important for the Merseyside team during the last campaign.
Scoring a number of goals and providing assists, his club coach David Moyes knows his true value and has worked hard to hold onto the Johannesburg native despite great transfer interest over the last few months. Pienaar is a leader in his own right, and new Bafana coach Pitso Mosimane has referred to him as South Africa’s second captain.
Steven Pienaar - Creative Spark For Bafana & Everton
Gervinho (Lille/Ivory Coast)
Gervais Yao Kouassi aka Gervinho is another Ivorian player with a bright future. He is one of the most skilled dribblers in the French Ligue 1 and last season he was a top scorer for his club Lille in the league. If one thing stands against him however, it is the fact that he is yet to float to the top where players are unanimously picked and crowned by a global audience and by the elite group of his peers.
Perhaps a consistent showing over a few seasons and better performances for Ivory Coast at international level will see him nominated for the ultimate personal prize in African football in the near future. He certainly has the talent and ability to make waves on the continent.
Frédéric Kanouté (FC Sévilla/Mali)
The French-born Malian striker who plies his trade with Sevilla in Spain clinched the coveted African Player of the Year prize in 2008, becoming the first player born outside of the continent to win it. His nomination for the 2010 prize was a no-brainer for many, after Kanoute led the line for Mali during the country’s qualifiers for the 2010 AFCON and World Cup finals, but he was not considered good enough to stand alongside the ten nominees.
At the AFCON finals in Angola, Kanoute scored two goals out of the seven the team put away during the tournament. The French-born forward announced his retirement before returning to his club Sevilla. Last season the lethal striker scored 16 goals in all competitions for his club.
Mali's Kanoute Did Not Get A Mention
Mohamed Zidan (Dortmund/Egypt)
Having essentially the same last name as one of the best players to ever grace a football pitch must not be easy, but Mohamed Zidan has certainly done a great deal in his career to ensure that he'll be remembered in his own right. While he's played fantastically well at club level, Zizo has saved his best performances for Egypt, with whom he's conquered Africa on two occasions, both times providing the killer assist in the championship game to help the Pharaohs lift the continental title.
Nevertheless, Zidan is not just a provider; he is also a lethal finisher. Who could forget his stunning outing against Cameroon at Ghana 2008 where he scored two goals and each time took off his boot and performed his "hot potato" celebration to the delight of the crowd? Perhaps this season he has slowed down somewhat and has not produced the same performances as he did over the last few years, but many north African fans would have wanted to see the Egyptian in the running for the prize.
Michael Essien (Chelsea/Ghana)
Not much was seen of the Black Stars midfield general in the last year due to protracted injury. The Chelsea ace played less than 45 minutes at the last African Cup of Nations and could not even make it to the historic World Cup in South Africa. It is obvious that the 27-year-old would struggle to make it into the final list of the CAF African Player of the Year Award nominees although the fact that he has consistently made it there in previous years means that the list does not look complete without him.
His play at club level is probably the main reason for people hoping he would make the top 10 list, as he did well when not injured and was part of a very successful season in the Premier League with Chelsea. Despite this, he was not available enough of the time to warrant a place in the nominees list, and he will want to change that next season.
Asamoah Kwadwo (Udinese/Ghana)
The midfield playmaker is the creative force of the Black Stars. The Udinese player has been on top of his game at international level, producing better performances than he does for his club. In the absence of star midfielders Michael Essien and Sulley Muntari, the soon to be 22-year-old manned the engine room of the Black Stars with his dribbling and distribution skills, earning him the Samsung Fair Play Award.
The enterprising player replicated this at the World Cup by creating a great deal of space and engineering several fouls in dangerous spots against his opponents. He is one of Ghana’s rising stars, and will surely be a prominent face in African football circles for some time to come.
Kwadwo Asamoah Impressed At The World Cup
Marouane Chamakh (Arsenal/Morocco)
The lanky 26-year-old was always considered a promising player, but it is in the last two years that Chamakh has taken his game to another level completely. While he initially struggled at Bordeaux, he worked hard and eventually convinced Laurent Blanc to give him a permanent place in the starting line up where his chemistry with Yoann Gourcuff helped offer his club their first Ligue 1 title in 10 years. He also lifted the Coupe de la Ligue in the same season.
While the ensuing campaign wasn't as successful, Chamakh showed enough to earn his dream move to Arsenal where he has settled in beautifully and has given the Gunners the kind of target man up front that they haven't had since the departure of Emmanuel Adebayor. The Moroccan’s aerial threat is nothing new, he scored the most goals with his head in the UEFA Champions League last season. While success hasn't necessarily followed with Morocco, especially recently, Atlas Lions fans are hoping that a new coach in Eric Gerets will find a way to utilize his immense skills. It is perhaps the failure of Morocco on the international stage that has kept Chamakh from gracing the African Player of the Year nominees list.
Emmanuel Adebayor (Manchester City/Togo)
Despite Emmanuel Adebayor retiring from international football on April 12, 2010, after the fiasco where the Togolese team’s bus came under a gunfire attack in the Angolan town of Cabinda, on the way to the 2010 African Cup of Nations tournament earlier in January this year, the lanky Manchester City striker had already achieved much by assisting the team qualify for the finals.
Adebayor scored four goals in the 6-0 annihilation of Swaziland before scoring the 1-0 win over Cameroon that sealed Togo’s qualification to the 2010 AFCON finals, which the country did not participate in. At club level, after sealing a five-year switch to Manchester City, Adabayor started his season with a swagger by scoring in four consecutive matches, including a messier encounter against his former club Arsenal. Though injuries derailed his season, he managed to score 14 goals from 31 appearances in all competitions, and many believed they would see his name in the nominees list for Africa's top individual accolade.
Adebayor Has Been On The List In Recent Years