Yaya Toure beats Aubameyang to award
January 8, 2015
Manchester City midfielder Yaya Toure beat first-time finalists Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang of Borussia Dortmund and Vincent Enyeama of Lille to claim his fourth consecutive CAF African Footballer of the Year award.
Voted for by the coaches and captain's of Africa's national teams, Toure draws level with Cameroon's Samuel Eto'o, who has also won four awards. Toure is the first to claim four consecutive awards though.
"I've been very blessed all these years," Toure said at the ceremony. "I want to thank all the football fans and say 'Thank you Africa'."
Yaya Toure was a key player for Manchester City last season as they lifted the Premier League title, scoring 20 goals. Toure has played in the last three World Cups for Ivory Coast, as well as five successive African Nations Cup finals since 2006 - although he has never won the tournament, twice finishing as runner-up.
Toure joined Manchester City in 2010 from Barcelona for around 30 million euros. So far in his career, Toure has lifted the league title in Greece, as well as twice in Spain and England respectively. The 31-year-old has also lifted domestic cups in four different countries.
jh/jw (Reuters, AFP)