N          Player Name                 Club                 Country                                                      2012 performance

1  Abdelaziz Barrada         Getafe               Morocco

The Moroccan midfielder played 32 matches for Getafe in the Spanish Primera Division in 2011-12 season scoring four times and making 5 assists. In the current 2012-12013 season he has played in

5 matches and scored 3 goals. Barrada played all three games for Morocco men’s Olympic team at London 2012 Olympiad and scored against Honduras.

2  Adel Taarabt               Queens Park Rangers  Morocco

Played 28 times in 2011-12 season for Queens Park Rangers scoring twice. Named QPR young player of the year 2011-2012 season. He has played 15 times for Morocco, scoring 4 goals.

3  Alain Sibiri Traore     FC Lorient      Burkina Faso

The Burkina Faso international helped his country reach AFCON 2012. Was one of the bright spots in an Auxerre team that was relegated from French Ligue 1 at the end of 2011-2012 season and he was snatched up by FC Lorient for whom he has scored 4 goals in 5 matches so far.

4  Alexander Song             Barcelona        Cameroon

Cameroon born international was voted in second place as Arsenal player of the season by the fans. The defensive midfielder had a hand in vital goals scored by Arsenal in 2011-2012 season. Left for Barcelona in August 2012 after 204 appearances and 10 goals for Arsenal. He is a member of the Cameroon national team.

5  Andre Ayew                     Marseille             Ghana

The Ghanaian winger played 39 times for his French side Marseille and scored on 16 occasions in 2011- 2012 season. He was part of Black Stars team that reached the semi-finals of the 2012 AFCON finals before finishing fourth overall. Has already scored four goals in 12 matches for his club in the current 2012-2013 season.

6  Arouna Kone                       Wigan                  Cote d’Ivoire

The Ivorian had a storming 2011-2012 season while on loan at Levante in the Spanish Primera Division. He scored 15 goals in 34 matches helping the Spanish side reach Europa League. Currently playing in English premiership with Wigan where he has scored twice in 6 games so far.

7  Aymen Abdennour      Toulouse            Tunisia

The Tunisian defender has had a great 2011-2012 season with his French club Toulouse and the national team. Reached the quarter finals of 2012 AFCON. Scored four times in 36 appearances for Toulouse prompting a call into Tunisian national side.

8  Bakaye Traoré               A.C Milan                Mali

The Malian player was part of the national team that reached the 2012 AFCON finals before finishing in third place. He followed a good season’s performance at club level with Nancy with an equal strong performance at national level. Scored in a 1-0 win over Guinea at AFCON finals.

9  Cheick Ismael Tioté    Newcastle United  Cote d’Ivoire

The Ivorian defensive midfielder who plays for Newcastle Utd and commanded a regular place in the team during 2011-2012 season. Was part of Ivory Coast side that finished runners-up at 2012 AFCON and he scored his side first penalty in the shoot-out with eventual winners Zambia.

10 Christopher Katongo Henan Construction        Zambia

The Zambian national team captain led his charges to their country’s first African title at 2012 Gabon- Equatorial Guinea finals. The striker was voted the Player of the Tournament at 2012 AFCON finals.  Katongo has continued to score crucial goals for Zambia in both qualifiers for 2013 AFCON and 2014 FIFA World Cup. Has scored 19 goals in 74 appearances for Zambia to this day.

11 Demba Ba                            Sèvres               Senegal

The Senegalese striker scored 16 goals in 36 appearances for Newcastle United in the English Premiership. His goals in the qualifiers helped Senegal reach 2012 AFCON finals. Demba Ba was voted the best signing of 2011-2012 season by managers in English Premiership. Finished club top goal-scorer and has so far scored 6 goals in 7 games in the new season.

12 Didier Drogba      Shanghai  Shenhua Cote d’Ivoire

The Ivorian striker had an eventful 2011-2012 season with both club and country. He scored the equalizer and winning penalty to give Chelsea the European Champions League title and missed a penalty in 2012 AFCON final during regulation time. His goals took Ivory Coast into 2012 AFCON finals were they finished up second to Zambia. Scored the winning goal in FA cup final for Chelsea in what became his last season with the English club before he signed for Shanghai Shenhua in China.

The Ghanaian defensive midfielder managed to nail down a regular place in the Udinese side in the Italian Serie A. He was also part of the Ghana side that finished fourth at 2012 AFCON finals. Has fitted into the team as a cover man for the midfielders at the club and made the position his own

14 Emmanuel Mayuka                                     Southampton             Zambia

The Zambia striker won the Golden boot for the top goal scorer at 2012 AFCON finals. His goals propelled Zambia in into the finals and it was his sweetly struck shot that beat Ghana in the semi- final at 2012 AFCON. Mayuka had an equally stellar 2011- 2012 season his Swiss club Young Boys where he scored crucial goals in their Europa League campaign.

15 Foxi Kethevoama       FC Astana            Central Africa

The Central African Republic midfielder scored both goals in his country’s first ever win in World Cup qualifiers. He plies his trade with FC Astana in the Kazhkstan Premier League . Kethevoama was part of the C.A.R side that knocked 7 time African Champions- Egypt out of 2013 AFCON and the midfielder scored one goal and assisted in two other from the four goals took C.A.R to the final qualification stage for 2013 AFCON.

Gervais Lombe Yao Kouassi   Arsenal  Cote d’Ivoire

The Ivorian striker was part of the national side that reached 2012 AFCON final and it was his goal from a solo run from his own half that beat Mali in the semi-final. His club performance was unfortunately not matched by his national success in 2011-2012 season but he has started 2012-2013 club season with a bang, scoring four goals in 6 games.

18 John Obi Mikel                Chelsea              Nigeria

The Nigerian midfielder scored more success with club than country winning European Champions League and an FA title with Chelsea. The success was however not replicated at national level and Obi’s Nigeria failed to make it to 2012 AFCON finals.

19 John Utaka                     Montpellier         Nigeria

The Nigerian striker played a crucial role in helping club side Montpellier win their first ever French Ligue 1 title. He was constantly on the score sheet and making assists too. His six and seventh goals of the season helped beat Auxerre 2-1 in a match that secured the title

20 Kwadwo Asamoah      Juventus              Ghana

The Ghanaian midfielder produced some fine performances in an Udinese shirt in the Italian Serie A in 20111-2012 season. He established himself in the side and was soon chased by a number of bigger clubs. He was part of the Black Stars side at 2012 AFCON finals and finished fourth at that tournament. Italian champions signed him up at the end of 2011 season.

21 Moussa Sow                  Fenerbahçe         Senegal

The Senegalese hit man had another fabulous season with Lille in French Ligue 1 in 2011-2012 before moving to Fenerbahçe in Turkey. He scored 11 goals in 25 matches for Lille and went on to notch 9 goals in 15 games for Fernebache . He was able to make his debut for Senegal and played at 2012 AFCON finals scoring against Equatorial Guinea.

22 Nicolas N’koulou          Marseille         Cameroon

The Cameroonian defender has been growing in strength and stature at Marseille where he has become a regular in the team. He is part of the national team.

23 Papiss Demba Cissé Newcastle United               Senegal

The Senegalese striker moved to Newcastle in January 2012 from SC Freiburg and went on to score 13 league goals from 14 matches. His second goal in a 2-0 win over Chelsea was voted BBC goal of the season. He scored freely for Senegal in qualifiers with his goals helping the Terenga Lions reach 2012 AFCON finals. The Senegalese striker scored in each of the four games Senegal

24 Pape Moussa Konaté          FC Krasnodar       Senegal

Played at London 2012 Olympics . He had an impressive season with Maccabi Tel Aviv scoring 8 times in 42 appearances. He was snatched up for 2012-2013 season by Russian club FC Krasnodar.

26 Rainford Kalaba       TP Mazembe       Zambia

The Zambian midfielder was part of the 2012 AFCON winning side and architecture of the team’s build ups. Apart from orchestrating and assisting in goals scored Kalaba has often popped up with vital goals too among them the winning goal against Senegal at 2012 AFCON. He replicates his influential role for Zambia at his club with TP Mazembe who has reached the semi-finals of 2012 CAF Champions League.

27 Seydou Doumbia     CSKA Moscow         Cote d’Ivoire

The Ivorian striker won the Golden Boot after finishing top goal- scorer in the Russian Premier League with CSKA Moscow with 23 goals. The sure-footed striker was part of the Ivorian national side at 2012 AFCON finals. He scored a total of 37 goals in 57 matches in 2011-2012 season for CSKA Moscow.

28 Seydou Keita              Dalian Aerbin          Mali

The Malian midfielder led his national team to a third place finish at 2012 AFCON finals. He made his highest number of appearances in a season for club side Barcelona in Spanish La Liga (42) scoring 4 goals in 2011- 2012 season. He also won the Copa del Reya Cup with his club before moving to China where he now plays for Dalian Aerbin FC.

29 Sofiane Feghouli            Almeria              Algeria

The attacking midfielder is currently playing his club football for Almeria in the Spanish La Liga (while on loan from Valencia). He made 48 appearances scoring 6 times during 2011-2012 season. Made his debut for Algeria October 2011 and has scored twice for the Desert Foxes against Gambia and Rwanda in 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.

30 Stoppila Sunzu           TP Mazembe       Zambia

The versatile Zambian converted the winning penalty in the 2012 AFCON final after he had helped shut out the Ivorian strike force during the match. He plays his club football with TP Mazembe where he is a regular in the side that has so far reached the 2012 CAF Champions League final.

31 Victor Moses                     Chelsea              Nigeria

The winger cum-striker had a fabulous 2011-2012 season with English Premiership side, Wigan. He was a regular in the side and noted for his assists and also contributed with 6 goals from his 36 matches in that season. He was called up for national duty by Nigeria and made his debut in February 2012 against Rwanda. His impressive performances with Wigan saw him signed up by Chelsea in August 2012 and he went on to score for his new club on his debut.

32 Yaya Toure               Manchester City       Cote d’Ivoire

The Ivorian midfielder and reigning African Footballer of the year had another stellar season in 2011-2012. His box to box runs have become trade-mark for club and country and made Yaya an important player. He scores 9 goals in 43 games for Manchester City and helped the club win the English Premiership title in 44 years. He was voted in the PFA Premier League team of the year 2011- 2012 season. With Ivory Coast Yaya was part of the team that blitzed its way to the 2012 AFCON finals before losing the final on penalties to Zambia. He scored in a 3-0 win over co-hosts Equatorial Guinea in the quarter finals.

33 Younes Belhanda          Avignon            Morocco

The Moroccan player who plays as midfielder or winger had a brilliant 2011-2012 season with his French Ligue 1 side, Montpellier. He made 31 appearances and scored 13 times in a storming league campaign that ended with Montpellier crowned French champions. Belhanda was voted into the team of the season and won the award of the best Young player of the year 2011-2012 season. He was part of Morocco national team at 2012 AFCON finals and scored in a 1-0 win over Niger.

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