Tight finish predicted for African award poll

JOHANNESBURG, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Another tight finish to determine the African Footballer of the Year is expected when the winner is named at the Confederation of African Football's annual awards gala in Accra, Ghana on Thursday.

In the 2005 poll only two votes separated Cameroon's Samuel Eto'o from runner-up Didier Drogba and an equally close contest is forecast between the two strikers again.

The third candidate for the award is Chelsea's Ghana international midfielder Michael Essien.

Eto'o, who helped Barcelona win the Champions League last May, is seeking a record-breaking fourth successive award in the poll of national team coaches from Africa's 53 member countries.

His scoring record in the Spanish league last season and his role in helping Barca retain their domestic title adds to his chances of winning while at international level Eto'o finished as top scorer at the 2006 African Nations Cup finals in Egypt.

But he also missed the penalty that saw Cameroon eliminated by Drogba's Ivorian side in the quarter-finals and did not participate at the World Cup. Injury also kept Eto'o out of action from September.

Drogba captained the Ivorians to the Nations Cup final, where they lost in a post-match penalty shootout to hosts Egypt.

He was also skipper of an exciting Ivorian side at the World Cup in Germany, although he missed the last group game after picking up successive yellow cards in the two previous matches.

His goals also helped Chelsea win the Premier League for a second time and reach the Champions League semi-final. He also scored twice when they beat Arsenal 2-1 to lift the League Cup on Sunday taking his English tally for the season to 28 goals.

OUTSTANDING ROLE

Essien, who was third in the 2005 Footballer of the Year poll, also carries the same club credentials as Drogba plus an outstanding role in helping World Cup debutants Ghana get past the first round in Germany.

The Black Stars were the only African side to advance to the last 16.

Injury, however, kept Essien out of the Nations Cup tournament in Egypt.

The three finalists were cut down from a short list of 10 and then five. The last two to fall out of the reckoning were Portsmouth striker Nwankwo Kanu and Egypt's Mohamed Aboutrika, who won the Nations Cup and African Champions League in 2006.

The initial shortlist is determined by a vote of selected CAF standing committee members but the last five candidates are voted for by the coaches.

CAF have, however, failed to provide a breakdown of the individual country votes in recent years, without offering any explanation.

Thursday's award ceremony had been originally scheduled for Abuja, Nigeria on Jan. 18 but was postponed. Again no reason was offered by African football's governing body.