South Africa might be the focus of African soccer when it comes to the 2010 World Cup, but its players do not seem to be among Africa’s best. The nominations of the MTN Confederation of African Football (CAF) Awards were announced on Tuesday, and the shortlist contains no South Africans.
The shortlist was announced in Durban. This city will also host the award gala on February 15, when the winners will be announced.
The main objective of the MTN CAF Awards is to recognise excellence in Africa.
”Teams, players and administrators are continuously achieving soccer victories both on and off the pitch — it is important that these accomplishments receive the credit they deserve,” said the press statement released by MTN on Tuesday.
The finalists in each of the main categories are chosen by the CAF media and technical committees through a voting process, while the best achievement and merit achievement awards are proposed by the awards selection committee. The final vote is made by the CAF executive committee.
The nominees are, followed by motivation of the jury:
MTN CAF Champions League Player of the Year
Zobeir Baya (Etoile de Sahel)
An inspiration in midfield, as a player and the captain of the Etoile du Sahel side that reached the final of this year’s tournament, Beya’s skill and vision set up some of his team’s most important goals.
Vincent Enyeama (Enyimba)
Despite his substitutions during the penalty shootouts against Esperance and Etoile du Sahel, Enyeama was in magnificent form in this year’s tournament and an essential part of the Enyimba success story in reaching, and winning, their second consecutive MTN CAF Champions League Final.
Ali Zitouni (Espérance)
One of the most exciting goal scorers in Tunisian football and a key member of the Espérance team that only failed to reach the final after a penalty shootout. Zitouni was one of the top scorers in this year’s tournament with nine goals to his credit.
MTN Team of the Year
Côte d’Ivoire
With a team featuring Africa’s top stars such as Didier Drogba, Kolo Toure and ace marksman Aruna Dindane, it’s not too much of a surprise that Côte d’Ivoire were Africa’s best movers in 2004 on the Fifa rankings — jumping up an incredible 30 places to end the year well within the world top 50 in 40th position on the table.
Morocco
Originally not among the favourites to make an impact, Morocco surprised fans and the media critics alike by powering their way to the final of African Cup of Nations 2004 in Tunisia. They were finally named as team of the tournament by the media.
Tunisia
After years of near misses, Tunisia finally had a team to take them all the way in the African Cup of Nations 2004. A team filled with flair and ability, they are worthy champions of Africa.
MTN Club of the Year
Enyimba (Nigeria)
Nigeria’s Enyimba made history in 2003 by being the first Nigerian team to become club champions of Africa. Impressively, they then became only the second team to win it back to back in the history of Africa’s premier club championship challenge by winning it again in 2004, a year in which they also won the African Supercup.
Etoile du Sahel (Tunisia)
Two finals in one year is a remarkable achievement by anyone’s standards. Etoile did just that, playing in both the African Supercup and MTN CAF Champion’s League finals during the course of 2004 — a year that certainly marked them out as one of the top clubs in African football.
Hearts of Oak (Ghana)
Ghana’s Accra-based team pulled off a remarkable victory to become the first winners of the newly established CAF Confederation Cup, with an against-the-odds away victory over perennial Ghanaian rivals Asante Kotoko of Kumasi in the second leg of the final.
MTN Coach of the Year
Badou Ezaki (Morocco)
Stepping in replace Humberto Coelho before the tournament, Zaki took a Moroccan side that to many had seemed disjointed and unsettled all the way to final. He was clearly able to get his team to dig deep and find new depth in flair and character. Significantly, Morocco was named best team of the tournament by the media.
Okey Emordi (Enyimba)
Having taken over a side that had lost some of the key players that he had been in the team that won the MTN CAF Champion’s League trophy in 2003, it seemed Emordi would struggle to take Enyimba back to the heights of the previous year. He proved the doubters wrong as his team went on to win an historic successive trophy beating some of Africa’s best sides along the way.
Roger Lemerre (Tunisia)
Clearly, continental championships bring out the best in Frenchman Roger Lemerre. In 2000, he coached the French team to victory in the European Championships, a feat he repeated with Tunisia in the African Cup of Nations in 2004.
MTN Goalkeeper of the Year
Ali Boumnijel (Tunisia)
An absolute stalwart at the back for the African Cup of Nations winners, Tunisia, Boumnijel ensured the Carthage Eagles gave away very little in defence on their way to winning the trophy.
Vincent Enyeama (Nigeria)
Enyeama was named as goalkeeper of the tournament by the media at the 2004 African Cup of Nations and continued his impressive form at club level, where he played a key role in Enyimba’s historic achievement in winning the MTN CAF Champions League for the second year in a row.
Carlos Idriss Kameni (Cameroon)
Current African goalkeeper of the year, Kameni was unflappable in Cameroon’s Cup of Nations challenge. His performances lead to a move at club level away from France to big-name Spanish side Espanyol, where he has been in excellent form and is currently rated as one of the best goalkeepers in the league.
MTN Young Player of the Year 2004
Marouane Chamakh (Morocco)
Currently playing for French first-division side Bourdeaux, he has established himself as a definite star of the future. In 18 games of the current season, Chamakh has already scored seven times and looks well set to score many more.
Ahmed Fathi (Egypt)
Fathi was the youngest player at the time to make his debut the Egyptian senior squad four years ago and was a member of the Egyptian youth team that won the African Youth Cup in Burkina Faso in 2003. He also played a key role in helping his club, Ismaili clinch the Egyptian league championship in 2002. Already linked with some Europe’s top clubs, Fathi is positive representative of youth talent in our continent.
Obafemi Martins (Nigeria)
Current African young player of the year, Martins has already delivered on the promise he has shown over the past few years and is now an indispensable part of top Italian Serie A side Inter Milan, scoring regularly in both the league and the European Champions League. Last year also saw him play his first games for his national team, Nigeria, for whom he will certainly play a major role in upcoming World Cup and Nations Cup campaigns.
African Legends
Mahmoud Al Khatib (Egypt)
In a country that has provided so many great stars, Al Khatib is regarded by many as the greatest Egyptian player. Playing for Egypt and top Cairo side Al Ahly his excellence was recognised around the continent and he was the first and only Egyptian player to win the African Player of the Year Award, in 1983, following Al Ahly’s 1982 triumph in the African Champions Cup.
Pierre Kalala (Congo)
Affectionately known as ”Le Bombardier”, Kalala was one of the first players in African football to develop a reputation as a great player right across the continent — one of the first truly continental stars of African football. He made his name as a striker with the famous TP Mazembe side (then known as Tout Puissant Engelbert) in the mid-1960s that won the African Champions Cup twice in succession (1967 and 1968). Without a doubt, had the African Player of the Year Award already been established (it only came into being in 1970), Kalala would have been a clear winner. In naming him as one of the African Legends, MTN and CAF have final given this great player recognition that is long overdue.
George Weah (Liberia)
Truly a legend among legends, Liberian star George Weah made his mark in European football in the late 1980s and early 1990s with top club sides such as Monaco (France), AC Milan (Italy) and Chelsea (England). His performances for Monaco saw him named African player of the year in 1989. But it was while at Milan that Weah became the first African player to win both the European Player of the Year Award and the World Player of the Year Award in 1995, as well as his second African Player of the Year Award.