Ayew beat Yaya Toure, Gervinho, Samuel Eto’o and Seydou Keita to the title.

“I’m honoured and surprised to receive this prestigious award, especially considering the great players who have won it in the past,” said Ayew.

“I thank all the people who voted for me – in Ghana, in Africa and in the world.  “I’m going to work hard to show them they made a good choice.”

The award was voted for by African football fans who nominated their favourites either by text or email.  They chose from a shortlist which was drawn up by football experts from every country in Africa, who based their choices on players’ skill, technical ability, teamwork, consistency and fair play.

After making an impact on the international stage in 2010, when he impressed observers at both the Africa Cup of Nations and Fifa World Cup, 2011 marked a year when Ayew became a key figure at club level.

He finished the 2010-11 campaign as a regular starter for Marseille for the first time in his career, with his goal tally of 11 aiding his cause.  At the start of this season, he struck a hat-trick to help Marseille win the French Super League – and has since contested all but one of his side’s 17 league games, scoring six times.

Injury ruled him out of Marseille’s opening Champions League group game but the Ghanaian has gone on to miss just one minute of European action since then, as the 1993 champions reached the knockout stages.

At international level, Ayew also played a key role in ensuring that the Black Stars qualified for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations with an unbeaten record.

Abedi “Pele” Ayew was the first winner of the BBC African Sports Star of the Year award for his achievements in 1991, with the title later turning into the current BBC African Footballer of the Year award.

“Dede” becomes the fifth Ghanaian to win after his father, Sammy Kuffour (2001), Michael Essien (2006) and last year’s winner Asamoah Gyan.

Previous winners of BBC African Footballer of the Year award:

2010 – Asamoah Gyan (Sunderland & Ghana)

2009 – Didier Drogba (Chelsea & Ivory Coast)

2008 – Mohamed Aboutrika (Al Ahly & Egypt)

2007 – Emmanuel Adebayor (Arsenal & Togo)

2006 – Michael Essien (Chelsea & Ghana)

2005 – Mohamed Barakat (Al Ahly & Egypt)

2004 – Jay Jay Okocha (Bolton & Nigeria)

2003 – Jay Jay Okocha (Bolton & Nigeria)

2002 – El Hadji Diouf (Liverpool & Senegal)

2001 – Sammy Kuffour (Bayern Munich & Ghana)

2000 – Patrick Mboma (Parma & Cameroon)

Source: BBC

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Veteran goalkeeper Richard Kingson has been left out of Ghana’s squad for the Africa Cup of Nations next month.  The move confirms that youngster Adam Kwarasey is the Black Stars’ first-choice keeper.  Another notable inclusion is Jordan Ayew, who will become the third son of Ghana great Abedi Pele to play at a Nations Cup.

And the top scorer in the Ghana Premier League, Emmanuel Baffour, has also been included by coach Goran Stevanovic.  Kingson was first-choice stopper for Ghana throughout the 2010 Nations Cup and World Cup but has been without a club since being released by Blackpool following their relegation from the English Premier League in May.

Kwarasey opted to play for Ghana having represented Norway at youth level and has recently replaced Kingson as number one.

Also making the trip to Equatorial Guinea and Gabon 2012 is midfielder Charles Takyi, who only recently got clearance to switch allegiance from Germany to Ghana.

Ghana are the joint favourites to win the tournament, which kicks off on 21 January.  They are in Group D of the competition along with Botswana, Mali and Guinea and will be based in Franceville in the south-east of Gabon.

Also missing from the line-up is striker Dominic Adiyiah, who was part of Ghana’s squad at the 2010 World Cup but who has since moved to a Turkish second division club, Karsiyaka, and fallen off the radar.

Striker Baffour is one of the locally-based players to make the line-up, having impressed with a scoring streak of 11 goals in 11 games for his Ghanaian club New Edubiase.

Bristol City winger Albert Adomah, who has won two caps, has also missed out on making the squad, as has long-term injury absentee Michael Essien.

Stevanovic has named a 25-man squad, which will have to be whittled down to 23 before the tournament starts.

Goalkeepers:

Adam Kwarasey (Stromsgodset, Norway), Daniel Adjei (Liberty Professionals, Ghana), Ernest Sowah (Berekum Chelsea, Ghana)

Defenders:

Samuel Inkoom (Dnipro, Ukraine), John Paintsil (Leicester City, England), Daniel Opare (Standard Liege, Belgium), Masawudu Alhassan (Genoa, Italy), Lee Addy (Red Star Belgrade, Serbia), John Boye (Rennes, France), John Mensah (Lyon, France), Jonathan Mensah (Evian, France), Isaac Vorsah (Hoffenheim, Germany)

Midfielders:

Charles Takyi (St Pauli, Germany), Emmanuel Agyemang Badu (Udinese ,Italy), Derek Boateng (Dnipro, Ukraine), Anthony Annan (Vitesse Arnhem, Netherlands), Mohammed Abu (Stromsgodset, Norway), Kwadwo Asamoah (Udinese, Italy), Sulley Muntari (Inter Milan, Italy), Andre Ayew (Marseille, France)

Strikers:

Emmanuel Baffour (New Edubiase, Ghana), Prince Tagoe (Bursaspor, Turkey), Derek Asamoah (Pohang Steelers, South Korea), Asamoah Gyan (Al Ain, UAE), Jordan Ayew (Marseille, France).

Source: BBC

The 1982 Brazilian team that he captained was perhaps the greatest never to win the World Cup (along with Hungary in 1954 and Holland in 1974). It was also one of the last Brazil teams to fully embody the romantic stereotype that comes to mind when we think of the green-and-gold. Sublime touches, languid pace, creativity … the sheer joy of what they call “jogo bonito,” or the beautiful game. Zico was probably the best player on that Brazil side, but Socrates was its philosophy made flesh.

At 6-foot-4 and rail-thin, he strolled through the midfield sporting his trademark beard and headband. He could have been Bill Walton’s long lost Brazilian cousin. On the ball though, he was more Magic Johnson, thanks to his signature move, the no-look backheel pass. It’s one of those things that isn’t particularly hard to do, but is frightfully difficult to do well, mainly because you have to weight and execute a pass to a point on the pitch you can’t actually see. Plus, rather than kicking the ball with your foot, where you at least have some level of sensitivity, you strike it with the bony part of your heel. When you see it these days, it’s often a hit-and-hope move of last resort. For Socrates it was his bread and butter, something he nonchalantly pulled off in congested midfields, surprising not just his opponents, but often his teammates too, who would suddenly receive assists in mid-stride.

The backheel is not something any youth coach teaches. Nor is it something any pro coach particularly wants to encourage, precisely because it is so unpredictable. But in the carefree world of 1970s Brazilian soccer it had its place, especially when used as effectively as Socrates used it.

His résumé is actually surprisingly bare. A few regional titles in Brazil, just one season in a major European league (with Italy’s Fiorentina), 60 appearances and 22 goals for an outstanding Brazil team, albeit one that failed to win the World Cup. Yet that only tells part of the story.

Even as a professional, Socrates was a throwback to the amateur era, one where athletes were not defined solely by the sport they played. You want to talk student-athlete? For the first chunk of his career he was playing full-time for Botafogo while going to medical school at the University of Sao Paulo’s campus in Ribeirao Preto. He didn’t actually practice medicine until after his retirement, but when he tucked away this rocket against the Soviet Union in Brazil’s opening match of the 1982 World Cup, he became the first (and probably last) M.D. to notch a goal on the game’s biggest stage.

He was also an activist who, while at Corinthians in the late 1970s, founded a movement opposing the country’s military regime. A self-described Maoist and pacifist, his heroes – unsurprisingly – were Che Guevara and John Lennon, making him an instant legend among the radical chic Euro-left. After retirement in 1989, he went back to university, eventually earning a Ph.D. in philosophy.

The talent and erudition, the political views and beard-and-bandanna look, all of it meshed with his avowed taste for tobacco and alcohol to make him a romantic outsized figure: part rebel, part intellectual, part Latin hunk, part superstar. You can’t definitively rule out the possibility that one day someone may match or even surpass his achievements on and off the pitch, though it may take a long while for the next doctor/political activist/World Cup legend to roll on the scene. They may even do it with a beard, shaggy hair and a bandanna.

But what is certain is that nobody will do it with the style, panache and overall “cool” of Socrates. And they certainly won’t be spraying no-look backheels all over the pitch when they do.

Source: wsj (Gabriele Marcotti is the world soccer columnist for The Times of London and a regular broadcaster for the BBC. His column appears on Sundays)

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Tim Krul saved Frank Lampard’s penalty – awarded for a foul on Daniel Sturridge by Yohan Cabaye – but Didier Drogba headed the Blues in front.

Newcastle missed a host of second-half chances before Salomon Kalou sealed the points with a neat 88th-minute finish.

Sturridge then side-footed a third in injury time to deflate the Magpies.

Pardew ‘expected’ Luiz red card

Chelsea just about deserved the win – only their fourth in 10 games – which was built on the back of the kind of display they have found so difficult to consistently produce this season.

However, after being largely outplayed in the first half, a spirited Newcastle were much improved in the second period and they will argue that the whole nature of the game should have been different from the fourth minute on.

David Luiz’s clear foul on Demba Ba when the striker was seemingly clear on goal should have been punished with a red card, but instead referee Mike Dean opted to brandish a yellow, much to the chagrin of the home players and manager.

With a full compliment of players, Chelsea were subsequently able to impose themselves on an, at times, accommodating home side.

Spanish midfielder Juan Mata was the architect for the visitors and Sturridge the regular beneficiary. That the young striker remained goalless after the first 45 minutes was down to a matter of inches and the sheer quality of home keeper Krul.

It was Sturridge’s burst in the box after being released by Mata that earned Chelsea their penalty, but Krul got down well to his left to keep out Lampard’s poorly hit effort.

The home side did not learn though and three more times Mata released Sturridge only for the striker to be denied firstly by the post, then by Krul and finally by his own wayward shooting.

However, when called upon Drogba proved more clinical, powerfully heading in over the diving Krul from Mata’s delivery.

The closest the home side came to a goal in the first half was a Ba header from Peter Lovenkrands’ cross that hit the post and a flicked effort from the former, which Petr Cech tipped over.

However, after making most of the running before the break, Chelsea were on the back foot for the majority of the second period.

Villas-Boas lauds Chelsea’s ‘important step’

Early on Drogba headed against his own crossbar from a corner, with Krul again called upon to rescue his side as Ramires immediately broke down the other end.

Substitute Shola Ameobi struck a post with a superb shot from 20 yards, before his brother Sammy, who was introduced midway through the half, saw an effort cleared off the line by John Terry.

With Newcastle committing more and more men forward to salvage a draw, Chelsea struck twice late on to kill the game and give it a more flattering slant than it probably deserved.

First substitute Fernando Torres broke away before being forced to check – but still had the presence of mind to find Kalou, who finished into the corner.

And Sturridge struck the goal he deserved in injury time, cutting in from the right before drilling low past Krul.

Source: BBC

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If strikers were paid based on the goals they score, the peerless Lionel Messi would be the most expensive striker in football.  But the reigning Best Footballer is not. That tag – the most expensive striker – hangs on the neck of Fernando Torres who transferred from Liverpool to Chelsea for over $70 million dollars.  So much for austerity in the UK.

While the merciless Messi scores with ease and aplomb in the Spainish League, Fernando Torres was becoming a stumblehorse rather than the thoroughbred goal poacher Chelsea thought they had doled out maga millions for.  It is that bad when a football coach claims that “he does not ask his strikers to score goals.”  Who was Ancelotti kidding. Chelsea billionaire owner would have bought a goal for his prized  misfiring striker if he could.  But money cannot buy you goals as Chelsea and Fernando Torres would attest to. 

But when it seemed the football gods have deserted Torres, luck smiled on him over the weekend.  The groans and moans that echoed throughout Stamford Bridge over thirteen league games as Torres failed to score gave way to massive celebration and a palpable sigh of relief when Torres end his drought against West Ham over the weekend.

In case you have been living under a rock and you missed the birds chirping, the most expensive football player finally scored in his 14th game for Chelsea.  The celebration that followed after Torres scored with an assit from a puddle in a waterlogged field on a rainy day summed up the relief for Torres, Chelsea and his coach Ancelotti; even though he did not ask his striker to score.

So as Messi scores, as he does, to set new records in La Liga, Chelsea fans can only hope Torres has found his scoring boots to do the job he was paid all that money to do – score goals.

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I destest mediocrity so to an extent I can understand why one can be dismissive for celebrating after a tie game.  But in all fairness, I think the celebrations that erupted in Wembley following Asamoah Gyan’s goal had more to do with the timing and quality of the goal than the actual outcome of the match.  In a highly anticipated game that match the festive atmosphere in Wembley, the writer like many ardent fans who watched the match had resigned themselves to defeat as the clocking was ticking down until that moment of brilliance by Asamoah Gyan that even Messi, the current best joggler of the round leather would be proud of came.

As Capello in his 100-words rich vocabulary said after the game, ” it was not a friendlygame, there were two teams on the pitch playing well, strongly with lots of tackles. Ghana are a really good team, the performance was fantastic.” The England manager was not mincing words about his description of the much awaited match-up between Ghana and England. Unlike many international friendlies, this one actually lived up to the hype.  Never mind that England played a “weakened” side after Capello decided to appeases Chelsea and Manchester United by sending home its players under the excuse of fatigue.  England’s Team B or not, the Three Lions had enough quality to outplay Black Stars and created more goal-scoring opportunities.

Ghana, having waited for so long for the opportunity to play England had to show that its quater-finals performance in South Africa was no fluke. And the Black Stars of Ghana made a strong case as an emerging powerhouse with their second-half performance after being outplayed by England in the first forty-five minutes of the game.  And to cap their display with a sublime goal by the “Baby Jet” within the second minute of three minutes of added time merited the delirious celebrations and the massive partying into the night.

This is my Pesewa! Have your say  .  . .

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“It’s the manager’s call and there are no problems from anyone,” said Crouch. “I’m pleased for John and we move on.” Milner added: “JT has shown week in, week out what a good leader he is.”  Tuesday’s news conference was the first opportunity for any England player to speak with the media after since his reinstatement on Monday. Terry admitted he was “not everybody’s cup of tea” amid speculation there was unrest in the camp about Capello’s decision, ahead of Saturday’s Euro 2012 qualifier against Wales in Cardiff.

“Fabio has the trust of the squad, we stand behind him and hopefully we can keep winning.”  England’s James Milner
But Crouch said the captaincy issue had not even been broached by the players and Chelsea skipper Terry – who could only look on as the armband was passed around among his team-mates in the friendly with Denmark last month – had everyone’s support.

“We’ve not really talked about it, no,” said the Spurs striker. “It’s between the manager and the captain, whoever he wants to pick. “There’s a lot of talk of unrest but it’s not an issue. John Terry has always been fantastic on the pitch, leading Chelsea to Doubles, and he’ll be good for us again.

“It is a shame for Rio because he’s a top player and great to have around because he’s a natural leader too. It’s a shame that he’s had so many injuries and that’s probably why the manager decided to make the change rather than have the armband being passed around.

“The manager wanted to stick with JT and that’s fine with all of us.”

Milner believes it is crucial that the more experienced players in the England squad all act like captains, and says it is more important that they continue to improve as a team.

“It’s business as usual, the manager’s made a decision and everyone’s happy for JT and disappointed for Rio,” said the Manchester City midfielder.

“We have lots of good leaders and you need more than one anyway. It helps to have so much experience around and we’ve got a good combination of that as well as the younger players.

“JT has shown with Chelsea and the times he plays for England, he puts his head in where people wouldn’t go and he leads off the field too. It’s important to have a link between players and management, and players who will say what they think.

“A few things have changed from the World Cup, but ultimately all that is important is that we keep trying to get better and better.

“On paper we know we can beat anyone and we’ve started the qualifying campaign pretty well. Fabio has the trust of the squad, we stand behind him and hopefully we can keep getting wins on the board.”

Source: BBC SPORT

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The Euro 2012 qualifier between Italy and Serbia in Genoa was abandoned after Serbia fans continued to throw flares on to the pitch and light fireworks.  The kick-off had already been delayed by 45 minutes as police struggled to maintain order in the Marassi stadium.

When the game finally began, more flares and fireworks were thrown on to the field and the referee stopped the match after only seven minutes of play.  Italy and Serbia are in the same qualifying group as Northern Ireland.

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World U20 champions Ghana took a major stride towards having the right to defend their African title when beating Benin 2-0 in Cotonou on Sunday.

The Black Satellites – who became the first African team to win Fifa’s global U20 title last year – won thanks to goals from Enoch Ebo Andoh and Richmond Boakye Yiadom.

14 teams are currently playing out the last round of qualifiers to see who will join hosts Libya in next year’s African Youth Championship.

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Didier Drogba and Florent Malouda join ‘the bison’ in the running for the month’s top honour, with the duo in scintillating form for the free-scoring Blues.

Spurs midfielder Gareth Bale made a great start to the current campaign, building on some fine performances at the end of last season. Pushed forward into the left midfield position, the Welshman’s energetic displays in the League and Champions League have been recognised by the fans.

 Manchester United talisman Dimitar Berbatov is also in the running, with the Bulgarian’s six-goal keeping the Red Devils in-touch at the top of the table. A hat-trick against Liverpool is also a good way to get in the fans good books at Old Trafford!

 - – - – - -Source: Skysports

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