Samuel Eto'o was crowned the 2010 GL0-CAF Footballer of the Year Award for an unprecedented fourth time, Abeer Anwar reports It was a Monday night to remember for everyone attending the awards ceremony at the City Stars Intercontinental Hotel in Nasr City in Cairo. Though the headquarters of the African Football Federation (CAF) is located in Cairo, in 6 October City on the capital's outskirts, it was the first time the ceremony was held in Egypt. Though several awards were handed out, the best player prize drew the spotlight away from all else. First though, Egyptian and Tanzanian folklore dances were performed. And later guests were entertained by famed Egyptian pop singer Tamer Hosni who was earlier this year selected the best singer in Africa. Easily the most decorated African footballer, the Cameroonian international striker who plays for European champions Inter Milan, was chosen ahead of the fast rising Ghanaian star Asamoah Gyan from votes cast by the national coaches of the 53 African football associations. Last year's winner, Cote d'Ivoire's Didier Drogba came third. Eto'o's fourth African crown takes him past three-time winners Abedi Pele and George Weah. Eto'o won this award in 2003, 2004 and 2005 while playing in Spain, most recently with Barcelona. Eto'o's honours in football would fill an encyclopedia, with top accolades at club and country levels. The striker, 29, enjoyed little success with his country in 2010 but helped his club Inter Milan become European and Italian champions. Eto'o also scored one and created one in Inter's 3-0 win over Congolese side TP Mazembe to seal the Club World Cup final on Saturday. He was an integral part of Inter's success last term, scoring 16 goals during a highly successful campaign under then- coach Jose Mourinho. The Cameroonian forward arrived in the middle of the ceremony, receiving the award from CAF president Eissa Hayatou and Egypt's Minister of Petroleum Sameh Fahmi. Eto'o was late because of poor weather conditions which had prevented Drogba from being able to fly to Cairo. Speaking to CAF officials and African dignitaries after receiving his award, Eto'o said it was a dream for him and his family to become a football player one day. "Now I am and I'm really happy with this award and the others I've won in my life. These awards are not only honours for me but for my family as well. "Now, I will take the opportunity to thank the team of TP Mazembe who have honoured Africa at the FIFA World Clubs Cup by reaching the final. Praise also goes to South Africa and Mr Danny Jordaan whom I've met here, for hosting a superb World Cup for the first time in the African continent. "And from here and with all of you here I would like to ask you to help me help Africa to see more teams reaching the World Cup and winning one as well." Eto'o said. Eto'o said how happy he was to win the award, even though his exploits with the Indomitable Lions were limited as they were knocked out early in both the Africa Cup of Nations and World Cup in South Africa. In some quarters, that made him second favourite to Gyan, whose goals helped take Ghana to the World Cup quarter-finals, where they were eventually beaten on penalties by Uruguay. Gyan also helped Ghana reach the final of the Africa Cup of Nations, where they lost out to Egypt. Egyptian national team captain Ahmed Hassan was named the Africa-based Footballer of the Year on the back of his fantastic performance at the Angola 2010 Africa Cup of Nations. Hassan, 35, was not only selected Most Valuable Player at the Angolan tournament but also became the first player to win the Africa Cup of Nations four times with Egypt's third consecutive win. "It's a great honour for me to win this award and I would like to thank everyone who voted for me," Hassan said later. "I would also like to remind everyone that football is a team sport so I would like to thank my teammates and the technical staff for helping me throughout the season. "I've been playing football for almost 17 years now and wish to continue playing as much as I can and achieve all my ambitions and lead my country forward," Hassan added. Hassan fought off a close challenge from TP Mazembe's Alain Kaluyituka Dioko who has been a tower of strength for the DR Congo side who managed to retain their Africa Club Champions league title in 2010 and reach the final of the Club World Cup championship in the UAE. The Woman Footballer of the Year went to front runner Perpetua Nkwocha whose prolific goal scoring exploits won Nigerian Falcons the 7th CAF Africa Women's Championship this year. It was Nkwocha's third title after wins in 2004 and 2005. Nigeria completed a clean sweep of the women's awards with the Falcons senior team beating their U20 side to the Women' National Team of the Year award. Ghana's night of glory continued with the national team, with the Black Stars scooping the National Team of the Year award, ahead of Algeria and Egypt, while Ghana and Udinese midfielder Kwadwo Asamoah was named the Young Player of the Year, ahead of Algeria's Ryad Boudebouz and Niger striker Moussa Maazou. Milovan Rajevac was named Coach of the Year after leading Ghana into the final of Angola 2010. He then coached the Black Stars to an historic quarter-final berth at the 2010 World Cup finals in South Africa. The Serbian saw off competition from TP Mazembe boss Lamine N'Diaye and Egypt's Hassan Shehata. Democratic Republic of Congo's trail-blazing side TP Mazembe made it a back to back win when they were crowned Africa Club of the Year. The Presidential awards, given to those who have contributed immensely to the development of football, went to the following presidents of federations: EGYPT: Samir Zaher, Ghana: Kwesi Nyantakyi, Algeria: Mohamed Raouraoua: Cote d'Ivoire: Jacques Anouma, Cameroon: Iya Mohammed and South Africa: Kirsten Nematandani, Nigeria: Aminu Maigari. Egypt's Minister of Legal Affairs and the Parliamentary Council Mofid Shehab awarded the prize to Raouraoua, then chatted a little to show that last week's reconciliation between Zaher and Raouraoua in sports was now political as well. Zaher and Raouraoua buried the hatchet following last year's huge uproar between Egypt and Algeria over World Cup qualifications. Zaher confirmed the mending of fences on stage when the two presidents exchanged their awards in front of the audience. Although most people enjoyed the evening, the media were not as happy, complaining of being left out in a closed hall. They were not allowed to mingle with the guests or winners and there was no screen to watch the ceremony in the other hall. At the press conference that followed for both Eto'o and Gyan, Al-Ahram's Hassan Khalafallah blasted CAF officials for "poor organisation." Earlier in the week, Gyan was crowned BBC African Footballer of the Year for 2010. The Black Stars Sunderland striker clinched the title with an overwhelming majority, receiving more than half of the vote. He finished well ahead of fellow Ghanaian Andre 'Dede' Ayew, Ivorians Yaya Toure and Drogba, and Eto'o. "I'm so happy, I can't believe it," Gyan told the BBC said. "I'm so thankful to all the fans who voted for me." He added: "It was really hard to win this award, especially because of all the other players I was up against. "So I'm so appreciative to all my fans in Africa, especially my family and fans in Ghana." Gyan had a memorable year internationally, leading Ghana to second place at the Africa Cup of Nations in Angola, scoring three of the four goals that helped the Black Stars reach their first final in 18 years. At the World Cup in South Africa, the 24-year-old grabbed the world's attention as another three goals helped them progress from the group and into the quarter-finals. But he shot to prominence through unfortunate circumstances as his missed penalty against Uruguay with the last kick of the game denied Africa its first semi-final berth. He then earned widespread praise and went some way to redeeming his error when he recovered his composure to score in the shoot-out following a 1-1 draw. Despite the disappointment of the World Cup exit, the finals boosted his career as he left French side Rennes to become Sunderland's record signing at �13m. "Asamoah has been a fantastic addition to the Sunderland squad," said Sunderland manager Steve Bruce, who presented Gyan with the African Footballer of the Year trophy. "As our record signing, he had a lot of expectation placed on his shoulders but he has embraced the club wholeheartedly and has settled in very well. "He's a strong, quick player and brings something different to the side. "He has formed positive partnerships with other strikers and he's a real bright spark around the place too -- always smiling and happy. "He has an infectious joy for football, and we are reaping the rewards of that. "I'm thrilled for Asamoah that he has been awarded this honour, it is thoroughly deserved." The search for BBC African Footballer of the Year 2010 began on 15 November when fans were given the chance to choose their African football hero from a shortlist selected by experts from each of the continent's 52 countries.
