Cameroon striker Eto'o crowned king of African football

Cameroon's Samuel Eto'o, shown here February 8 during the African Nations Cup, was named African Footballer of the Year.

Cameroon striker Samuel Eto'o atoned for several near misses when he was named African Footballer of the Year.

And adding to the joy of the Spain-based star was that success came at a luxury hotel in the capital of the Central African country where he was born and grew up.

The other finalists were Nigeria midfielder 'Jay Jay' Okocha, who plays for English Premiership club Bolton Wanderers, and Ivory Coast striker Didier Drogba from French team Marseille.

Eto'o follows in the footsteps of compatriots Roger Milla, Thomas N'Kono, Jean-Manga Onguene, Theophile Abega and Patrick Mboma, whose 2000 success was the last by a Cameroonian.

The new king of African football owes his success to a series of outstanding performances in the Confederations Cup for Cameroon, who finished runners-up to hosts France.

He scored a brilliant solo goal against Brazil in an event that brought joy and sorrow to Cameroon with midfielder Marc-Vivien Foe collapsing and dying of heart failure in a semi-finals triumph over Colombia.

Eto'o also impressed for Real Mallorca and his coronation comes after being a finalist in the previous two editions won by Senegal striker El Hadji Diouf from another Premiership club, Liverpool.

Okocha missed the ceremony, saying he needed to remain in Bolton ahead of a Premiership clash with relegation candidates Leeds United this weekend, but his failure to win the award is set to provoke an outcry in Nigeria.

"I believe I have put in everything I could to be the winner. It's up to the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to decide, but I think I have done enough," an optimistic Okocha said Thursday.

The Super Eagles midfield magician overshadowed Eto'o at the biennial Nations Cup this year in Tunisia, but only achievements last year count. Members of the CAF technical and media committees choose the winner.

Rivalling the success of Eto'o for the emotional moment of the event was the victory of the late Orlando Pirates and South Africa striker Lesley Manyathela in the Goal of the Year category.

The rising star died last August when his car left the road and overturned near the end of a long journey home to visit his mother in the northern Limpopo province.

Gladys Manyathela was in Yaounde and struggled to hold back the tears as she collected an award for a bicycle kick goal during an All-Africa Games qualifier against Angola in Luanda.

Cameroon were predictably voted Team of the Year for a surprisingly good Confederations Cup showing, but coach Winfried Schafer failed in the Coach category with Kadiri Ikhana of Nigerian club Enyimba finishing first.

Ikhana led the provincial club to African Champions League glory, beating Ismailia of Egypt 2-1 on aggregate in the final to become the first Nigerian winners of the premier CAF club competition.

There was some consolation for Ismailia as Mali-born striker Dramane Traore was selected Champions League Footballer of the Year. His eight goals played a key role as the Egyptians exceeded expectations by reaching the decider.

The Goalkeeper of the Year award went to Idriss Kanemi of Cameroon, the Young Footballer of the Year title to Obafemi Martins of Nigeria and Enyimba were named Club of the Year.