Who wins BBC African Footballer of The Year....between Vincent Enyeama and Yaya Toure
Some call it the round leather game, others call it the beautiful
game but the traditional name is association football. But whatever you
call it, it is 90 exciting minutes of sweat and passion worth billions
of dollars annually.
Exactly 10 years after Jay Jay Okocha won the 2004 edition, the
impact of African players on the European football scene has continued
to grow as numerous Africans have made their mark in the Premiership, La
Liga and Serie A to mention a few. And in recognition of the
contributions of these African footballers, the British Broadcasting
Service (BBC), in 1992, introduced a special award christened BBC African Sports Star of The Year Award, for African football players plying their trade in Europe. Now known as the BBC African Footballer of the Year Award, five
finalists are poised to slug it out for the 2014 edition. Among them
are two of Africa’s best, Vincent Enyeama of Nigeria and Yaya Toure of
Ivory Coast, who are widely seen as top contenders. In this week’s
Showdown, Enyeama and Toure lock horns as football gurus determine
which of the pair deserves to win the 2014 edition of the award as the
world awaits the unveiling of the winner on Monday, December 1.
VINCENT ENYEAMA:
Akwa Ibom State born Vincent Enyeama is the first choice
goalkeeper for Nigeria’s national team, the Super Eagles. Born on August
29, 1982, and standing at 1.8m, Enyeama, who is currently plying his
trade at Lille OSC has an intimidating career profile no doubt! He was
called to the Super Eagles in May 2002 and hit national consciousness
when he substituted Nigeria’s then first choice, Ike Shorunmu. Following
his scintillating outing at Enyimba International club, which he helped
to clinch the African Champions League title back-to-back in 2003 and
2004, Enyeama moved to the Israeli league where he played for Bnei
Yehuda and later, Hapoel Tel Aviv, before proceeding to Lille in 2011.
While in Israel, he clinched the Israeli League and won two cups with
Hapoel Tel Aviv. Last season at Lille, he kept 11 consecutive clean
sheets during the first half of the 2013/2014 season and as well
achieved 21 shut-outs, more than any other goalkeeper in the top five
European leagues. And in May, 2014, he became the first goalkeeper to be
named the French League 1 African Player of The Season. His outing with the Super Eagles at the 2013 African Nations Cup in South Africa earned Nigeria the cup while he emerged The Best Goalkeeper of The Tournament. And few months after his sterling performance at the Brazil 2014 World Cup Finals, he was named world’s Fourth Best Goalkeeper.
YAYA TOURE:
African Footballer of The Year 2013, Ivory Coast and
Manchester City of England play maker, Gnegneri Yaya Toure aka, Yaya
Toure is an indigene of Bouake, Ivory Coast. The Ivorian midfielder who
is 1.88 meters tall was born in May, 1983. He started his football
career with junior Ivorian club side, ASEC Mimosas, in 1996, at age 18.
In 2001, he moved to the senior category and played for Belgian club,
Beveren, Ukrainian Metalurh Donetsk FC, Olympiacos of Greece, AS Monaco
of France, Bacelona of Spain and Manchester City of England where he
has been since 2010. He has over 85 caps for Ivory Coast with 16 goals
while his appearance for Manchester City is above 140 with over 39
goals. Toure was voted African Footballer of The Year for 2011, 2012 and 2013 respectively. While in Bacelona, his club side won six trophies in 2009 alone. He was nominated for The Personality of The Year Award at the MTV Africa Music Awards in July 2014. He was also nominated for the Prize in Entertainment category at the 2014 edition of The Future Africa Awards.
source: sunnew.com
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