[News] Portuguese Benni McCarthy deserve the African Footballer
JOHANNERSBURG -
Kaizer Chiefs boss Kaizer Motaung believes Portugal-based
Bafana Bafana striker Benni McCarthy has done enough over
the past year to deserve the African Footballer of the
Year crown.
McCarthy, who plays for Euro- pean champions Porto, is one
of the five finalists for this prestigious African accolade.
"I might be a little biased but I think Benni stands a very
good chance in view of the fact that FC Porto have won the
European Champions League and the World Club Championship
and he played a crucial role in these achievements. He
scored vital goals in the Champions League and was always
consistent," Motaung said.
McCarthy became the first South African to win a European
Champions League winner's medal (following in the footsteps
of three-time African Player of the Year winner Abedi Pele)
with Porto in 2004 and also won the Portuguese League Championship
and Portuguese FA Cup winner's medals.
More significantly, he was the top scorer in the Portuguese
league in the 2003-2004 season (he also scored the Portuguese
Goal of the Year) and is currently second on the Portuguese
goal-scoring charts in the 2004-2005 season.
His goals - against CSKA Moscow and Chelsea - secured Porto's
two key victories that earned the Portuguese side a place in
the next round of this prestigious competition.
Indeed, the Cape Town-born star will face tough competition
from Barcelona's Cameroonian striker Samuel Eto'o - the reigning
African Footballer of the Year. Eto'o has done equally well in
Spain but McCarthy could snatch the trophy on his performance
in the Uefa Champions League and the World Club Championship.
Other finalists are Bolton Wanderers' Nigerian midfield ace
Austin "Jay-Jay" Okocha, Ivory Coast striker Didier Drogba,
who plays for English Premiership club Chelsea, and Togolese
Emmanuel Adebayor, who plays for French club Monaco.
The list of the finalists will be forwarded to 53 national
associations, who will vote for their final three before January 31.
http://www.dispatch.co.za/2004/12/30/Sport/abenni.html
--
※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.cc)
◆ From: 140.115.229.108
※ 編輯: annalise 來自: 140.115.229.108 (12/30 22:47)
FPF 近期熱門文章
PTT體育區 即時熱門文章
-10
35