JOHANNESBURG: Egypt star Mohamed Abou-Trika was named 2008 BBC African Footballer of the Year Friday.
The 30-year-old midfielder received more than half of 155,000 votes from listeners to the global service and was followed by Emmanuel Adebayor of Togo, Didier Drogba of Ivory Coast, Samuel Eto o of Cameroon and Amr Zaki of Egypt.
Abou-Trika scored the winner when Egypt defeated Cameroon in the African Nations Cup final last February and played a pivotal role as Cairo-based Al-Ahly won a record sixth African Champions League title two months ago.
He is also a contender for the 2008 CAF African Footballer of the Year title with Arsenal striker Adebayor and Chelsea and Ghana midfielder Michael Essien and the winner will be announced on Feb. 10 in Lagos. -AFP
