Yaya Toure Wins CAF African Footballer of the year award for the third successive year

* Last night, Cote d’Ivoire international and Manchester
City’s midfield powerhouse – Yaya Toure won the
Confederation of African Football (CAF) African
Footballer of the Year Award for the third successive
year.
Yaya saw off competition from Super Eagles and
Chelsea midfielder, Mikel Obi, and Cote d’Ivoire
compatriot and Galatasaray’s striker, Didier Drogba to
pick the award at the Glo/CAF award ceremony held in
Lagos, Nigeria on Thursday night.
Upon receiving his award, Toure declared: “I am very
proud and very happy to receive this award, but would
also like to congratulate my brothers, John Obi Mikel
and Didier Drogba.”
Yaya Toure had earlier won the BBC African
Footballer of the Year award in December 2013.
By winning the 22nd CAF African Footballer of the Year
award, Toure, 30, emulates Abedi Pele and Samuel
Eto’o with a hat-trick of wins.
Ghanaian legend Abedi Pele won his three in a row
between 1991 to 1993 while Cameroonian striker Eto’o
did his from 2003 to 2005.
Toure who only won the FA Cup with Manchester City
last year, won based on his pure class which shone
through at both domestic level and for the Elephants of
Ivory Coast and also saw him being the only African to
be included on the 23-man shortlist for Fifa’s World
Player of the Year.
Many had believed that Mikel, 26, who helped Nigeria
win the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations in South Africa and
also won the Europa League in 2013 with his club
Chelsea, deserved the award more.
Drogba, 35, has also won the prestigious award twice
in 2006 and 2009 and was a runner-up in 2012. The last
Nigerian to win the award was Nwankwo Kanu in
1999.
Recent Caf Player of the Year winners
2013 Yaya Toure
2012 Yaya Toure
2011 Yaya Toure
2010 Samuel Eto’o
2009 Didier Drogba
2008 Emmanuel Adebayor
2007 Frederic Kanoute
2006 Didier Drogba