Ghana drew four nominations in the pruned Caf shortlist of its annual awards gala night to take place in Cairo on December 20th, Ghanasoccernet accesses the chances of Ghana's nominees for their various categories.
Player of the Year
Though midfielder Kevin-Prince Boateng failed to make the cut into the five from the initial ten which will be further whittled down to three, there was nor surprise at the inclusion of striker Asamoah Gyan.
Battling the likes of Salomon Kalou , Seydou Keita, Didier Drogba and Samuel Eto'o, it will not be rocket science to predict Gyan's inclusion in the final three alongside the latter two.
The player's form in the year under review clearly makes him hot favourites against even the heavyweights who by the way have all won the award at least once in the past.
He concluded the 2009/2010 season with his largest tally of 13 since turning pro with Renne.
The 25-year-old had a very good tournament at the Africa Cup of Nations in January at Angola where he led a relatively unknown Black Stars team to the Grand finale only loosing to an experienced Egyptian side but emerged Ghana's top scorer with three goals in six games.
His form even got better at the 2010 World Cup where again he bagged three goals even though he missed a crucial penalty that could have sent an African side through to the semis for the first time in the history of the mundial.
The stellar performances in the French league, the Africa and World Cups not only earned him worldwide fame, but a record summer move to Sunderland and a nomination into the Fifa Ballon d'Or.
Yes, Eto'o won the treble with Inter (very high marks), Drogba won the double with Chelsea (high marks) but in the world cup year, its all about performers at the mundial and that's where Gyan stands tall amongst others.
Most Promising Player of the Year
People would definitely struggle to make out names like Algeria's Ryad Boudebouz and Moussa Maazou of Niger as compared to Asamoah though they are very good. You see where performance or if you like appearance in major tournaments are important?
We all however know the Udinese man did not have the best of World Cups per his own standards set four months earlier in Angola. Perhaps because he has raised a lot of expectations but that is why he is not gunning for the top most prize but rather the 'Promising Talent'. He wins it hands down.
Coach of the Year
Be it that his closest rival is Egypt's Hassan Shehata who has won the Nations Cup three times on the bounce, that record becomes null but one because we are talking about just one year.
Lets look at it from this point, if winning the Nations Cup brings you say 10 points and coming second fetches 5 points, getting to the quarter finals of the World Cup would certainly get you at least 8-9 points which brings Milo's tally to about 13 points. Is there any challenger?
Team of the Year
Need i comment on this one too? Ok, factually, in 2006 ( a world Cup year) Ghana took the award for being the only team to make it past the first round therefore isn't it Dejavu? The only difference is that this time around is that Ghana went even further.
