Aboutrika has scored 4 Club World Cup goals for Ahly Al-Ahly striker Mohamed Aboutrika will find out if he has won the Africa-based Player of the Year award at the Confederation of African Football (CAF) Awards 2012, in Accra on Thursday. The 34-year old, who recently enjoyed a successful campaign with Ahly at the FIFA Club World Cup in Japan is hopeful of bagging the award won by Tunisian Oussama Darragui and Egyptian Ahmed Hassan in the last few years.
Aboutrika is up against TP Mazembe's Zambian duo Rainford Kalaba and centre back Stoppila Sunzu.
For the continental award, Ivory Coast players are in a strong position to winm with Didier Drogba and Yaya Toure rivalling Cameroon's Alexandre Song. Midfielder Toure, 29, is the defending champion, while Drogba, 34, has won twice before. A third win would edge the striker closer to Cameroonian Samuel Eto'o's record four trophies. A Drogba win would also mark the first time since the award was established in 1993 that two different players from the same country have won in consecutive years.
The 25-year old Song, a midfielder who is nominated for the first time, could derail Ivory Coast's bid for CAF dominance after a season that included strong play for Arsenal before his transfer to Barcelona. His counterparts also enjoyed a successful 2012. Drogba helped guide Chelsea to a UEFA Champions League victory and his national team to a narrow defeat in the finals at the Africa Cup of Nations. Toure won the English Premier League title with Manchester City and also performed well at the African tournament.
The ceremony's host nation Ghana will pin their hopes on the Under-17 women's team, which is short-listed for women's national team of the year against Equatorial Guinea and Nigeria's Under-20 team.
The competition for the team of the year trophy features a rematch of the African Cup of Nations final, with Zambia nominated against Ivory Coast.
Additional reporting: AFP