Guardian Glo-CAF Award Gala Nite Of Celebrations…And Hisses Friday, 09 January 2015 21:48 Written by Gowon Akpodonor Category: Home Asisat-kkAS it was last year, so it happened again on Thursday night at the Eko Hotel and Suites in Lagos. In the build up to the African Footballer of the Year gala night last year, many Nigerian soccer fans were so optimistic that Super Eagles’ midfielder, John Mikel Obi, would win the crown to end Nigeria’s long wait, after Nwankwo Kanu won it last in 1999. Their calculation then was that Mikel, who helped the Super Eagles to win the African Nations Cup in South Africa 2013, and also assisited Chelsea to a Europa Cup victory deserved to win the title than Toure. It turned out to be a mere dream, and the fans were forced to early bed, as Ivorian and Manchester City midfielder, Yaya Toure, floored Mikel at the end of the day. At the Glo-CAF Award gale night in Lagos on Thursday, the President of Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Amaju Pinnick, was rooted to his seat several minutes, after the Ivorian, Toure, was again declared African Footballer of the Year 2014. It was the last event for the night and Pinnick, like many other Nigerian soccer fans at the venue, was looking forward to see homeboy, Super Eagles goalie, Vincent Enyeama, clichéd the title. “I am sad, but that does not mean I am disappointed with the entire process,” Pinnick told The Guardian, as he accompanied Delta State Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, out of the hall. “All over the World, it is very rare to see a goalkeeper shortlisted among the last three candidates for this award and I expected the voters to take into consideration that Enyeama, being a keeper, deserved the award more than the two players. I am saying this because Enyeama had a stellar year for both the Super Eagles and his club in France. It’s really sad that he did not win,” Pinnick added. A new chapter was written in the history of African football on Thursday night, as Toure became the 2014 African Player of the Year. The Manchester City midfielder had won the crown for three consecutive editions (2011, 2012 and 2013), and his fourth successive victory on Thursday in Lagos has put him at par with ex-Cameroun striker, Samuel Eto’o, who won the prize four times - 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2010. But unlike Eto’o, the Ivorian (Toure) has gone a step further, becoming the first African player to win the title four times in a row. Some fans have pointed out that Toure might just set another record next year by clinching the title a record fifth time, if he is able to pilot the Elephants of Cote d’Ivoire to appreciable position in the fast approaching African Nations Cup in Equatorial Guinea and also perform well for his Club, Man City, in the Premier League, FA Cup and UEFA Champions League. Enyeama spoke shortly after losing the crown to Toure saying: “I am grateful to all Nigerians who stood by me and the coaches who voted for me. I am not a bitter loser, so I congratulate the winner, Yaya Toure.” While the men were harvesting awards for Algeria and Cote d’Ivoire, it was the women who came to Nigeria’s rescue in the night. The Super Falcons were crowned the Women’s National Team of the Year for winning their seventh Nations Cup title at the 2014 African Women Championship in Namibia. The Falcons beat the Lioness of Cameroun 2-0 in Namibia last October for their seventh title in the history of the AWC championship. They maintained their unrivaled record of having qualified for every edition of the FIFA Women’s World Cup since its inception in 1991. Perhaps, Nigeria’s biggest moment of the day was the victory by young player, Asisat Oshoala, who clichéd both the Woman Player of the year and Youth Player of the year award. Oshoala, who was accompanied to the venue by Super Falcons defender, Onome Ebi was full of joy. She told The Guardian shortly after being crowned Queen of Africa that the award would motivate her to do more for the country in this year’s FIFA senior Women World in Canada. Algeria had their efforts for year rewarded with the National Team of the Year prize. The ‘Les Fennecs’ beat Nigeria and Libya to the award of the best senior national team for the year 2014. Algeria had a superb year by their standards, reaching the second round at the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. They won the hearts of many soccer fans with their impressive displays before bowing out to eventual winners, Germany, after extra time in the Round of 16. It was Algeria’s night of football celebration, as they also cleared the award for both Club of the Year and Coach of the Year. For the Club of the Year, it was ES Setif, just as Kheireddine Madoul was voted Coach of the Year for his historic fate of guiding ES Setif to win the CAF Champions League, beating AS Vita of DR Congo on away goal rule. He achieved it against huge odds, fielding two different sides in one weekend, one for the Algerian league and the other for continental championship. Though, the ceremony lived up to its expectation, but some guest left the venue disappointed, as the official programme for the event titled: Celebrating The Passion Of African Football, did not contain about six major events listed for the night. The nominees for the African Legend category, which was won by Stade de Malian, was not included in the official programme, just as there was no space for the Player of the Year on African Continent, which was won by Mubele Ndombe. The African Football Leader of the Year, won by TP Mazembe was not also included on the programme. When it was time for the real thing, African Footballer of the Year, majority of the guest fumed and hissed on discovering that the profile and photographs of the three nominees, Yaya Toure, Vincent Enyeama and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was nowhere to be fond on the official programme. Another soured aspect of the event was the bad treatment given to Nigerian journalists. Despite beating the 3.00pm deadline set by Globacom officials for accreditation to commence, the journalists became ‘playing tools’ in the hands of CAF Security officials who mounted the two gates leading to the hall. Some of the local journalists who came from various cities across Nigeria to cover the award ceremony, had rough time getting to Eko Hotel due to heavy traffic on the Island, occasioned by the Presidential campaign at Tafawa Balewa Square (TBS), by the People Democratic Party (PDP). By the time some of local journalists got their accreditation at about 7.45pm, virtually all other guests were already seated. Yet, the Glo-CAF Award is a media event.
Posted on: Sat, 10 Jan 2015 09:26:08 +0000
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