Eto'o, Drogba and Essien head African awards list

Barcelona's Samuel Eto'o and Chelsea team-mates Didier Drogba and Michael Essien were among five players nominated yesterday for the African Footballer of the Year award.

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) said Monaco and Togo striker Emmanuel Adebayor and Bordeaux's Moroccan forward Marouane Chamakh were also named.

Spokesman Suleimanu Habuba said the list would be whittled down to three candidates on November 19 after a vote of the coaches of the continent's 53 national teams.

Eto'o is strongly fancied to win the award for a record-equalling third time after success in 2003 and 2004, despite Cameroon's failure to qualify for next year's World Cup finals in Germany.

The forward finished top scorer in the Spanish league and helped Barca to the title this year. Striker Drogba scored nine times for Ivory Coast while midfielder Essien made an equally vital contribution for Ghana as both West African sides reached the World Cup finals for the first time.

Adebayor scored 10 goals for Togo, making him the top scorer in the African World Cup qualifying campaign, to help his country reach their first finals.

Chamakh was a key figure for Morocco, who were denied a place among Africa's five finalists by Tunisia.

Habuba said the five players were chosen by the 37-members of the CAF's technical and media committees via individual ballots.

The winners for each category will be announced at an awards ceremony in the Nigerian capital Abuja on January 9.