Ghanaian soccer fans on Monday expressed excitement at the nomination of three Ghanaian football internationals in the just released CAF list of players shortlisted for honours in the African Best Player Award.
The three players, Asamoah Gyan, Andre Dede Ayew and Kevin Prince Boateng have been named as possible winners alongside Didier Drogba of Ivory Coast and Samuel Eto’o of Cameroon for the awards slated for December 20 in Cairo, Egypt.
Soccer fans devoted much attention to the names claiming their performances at the just ended World Cup and African Cup of Nations in January as well as their club performance might have motivated CAF to nominate them.
This is also the first time Ghana has had three players nominated for the single slot award which is very competitive on the continent.
Sports journalists on various radio and television discussions praised the Black Stars players for putting up impressive performance in the World Cup that propelled the team to a first quarter-final berth the world elite football mundial.
Some soccer fans claimed that Asamoah Gyan for instance, stands the chance of winning the best player award after scoring three goals in the South Africa World Cup tournament and leading the Stars to their final of the African Nations Cup as lead striker.
Andre Dede Ayew also comes into the competition with his role as captain of the victorious Ghana Under-20 side which lifted the World Cup for the first time and played a vital role in the Stars success at the African Cup of Nations in Angola and World Cup in South Africa.
Kevin Prince Boateng, who became the toast of many Ghanaian soccer fans, switched nationality from Germany to play for Ghana at the World Cup after very successive club performance and is also likely to win some laurels at the awards ceremony.