CAIRO: Mohamed Abou-Trika expressed his gratitude to Ahly coach Manuel Jose after receiving BBC s African Footballer of the Year award. The classy playmaker clinched the accolade after comfortably beating off competition from compatriot Amr Zaki, Emmanuel Adebayor, Didier Drogba and Samuel Eto o. He took more than half of the total ballot to claim the award, which is decided by football fans around the world. Upon being presented with the prize at a ceremony in Cairo on Saturday, Abou-Trika paid tribute to Portuguese tactician Jose. I dedicate this award to him because he played a key role in helping me become a good player, he was quoted as saying by Ahly s official website. I have to thank my Ahly and Egypt teammates also because personal achievements are always the result of collective work. Jose was the one who decided to sign Abou-Trika from Tersana in January 2004. The 30-year-old went on to become one of the best players in the Red Devils history, leading them to a host of local and continental titles. Abou-Trika is the second Egyptian to win the BBC award after his Ahly teammate Mohamed Barakat, who won it in 2005.
