SWAG Awards: Local experts tip Asamoah or Kingson

*With a few days left for the 2010 SWAG Awards ceremony, the competition for the Best Footballer has gathered momentum and more people have shone interest in the topmost awards.*

A survey carried by yours truly recently showed that most soccer fans are rooting for youngster Andre Dede Ayew, but when experts of the game were interviewed, they named either Asamaoah Gyan or goal keeper Richard Kingson as their choice.

According to most coaches, Asamoah Gyan deserves the top award because of his exploits at the both of the 2010 African Cup Angola and the World Cup held in South Africa. They say the Black Stars striker was the man who stole the shows for Ghana in the two most important events of the year.

Asamoah Gyan led the Black Stars to the Angola Africa Nations Cup, where Ghana lost in the final to Egypt. He was the top goals scorer for the Stars at the FIFA World Cup as well and was named among the top 25 players after the World Cup. He was even popular there than world best player Leo Messi.

The footballer / musician won the BBC Footballer of the year when football fans voted for him and also finished as runner-up to Cameroonian Samuel Eto’o for the prestigious CAF Africa Best Footballer.

In Ghana, he is an idol as he has managed to beat all strikers of all time to become the Black Stars top goals scorer.

His performance at the World Cup set scouts on him to convince him to change clubs from Rennes in France to Sunderland in the English Premiership.

Those in favour of goalie Richard Kingson claim he was the savior of Ghana at the African Cup and World Cup because he made several good saves that prevented the Black Stars from losing or drawing. His performance also contributed to him staying in the competitive English Premiership with Blackpool.

For Kingson, what makes him special is that he is one of the few Africans who keep the posts in Europe. He is also regarded as the best goal keeper from Africa and the third best in the world, according to some coaches.

Others are of the opinion that Dede Ayew can also win the award, judging from his consistency.