THE dwindling fortune of Nigerian football has once again played out, as no player of the country was mentioned in the list of five candidates shortlisted by BBC Sports for its 2011 BBC African Footballer of the Year award.Unlike in the past, when Nigerian players dominated, the 2011 list, which was revealed yesterday on the BBC's Sport Today programme, saw the Ivorian pair of Yaya Toure and Gervinho on parade. Others listed were Andre 'Dede' Ayew of Ghana, Cameroonian Samuel Eto'o and Mali's Seydou Keita.The winner will be decided by African football fans, who have until December 9, to vote for their choice. Voting for the award will take place via text and online.The winner will be announced a week later on December 16 on the BBC's Sport Today programme.Both Manchester City striker Yaya Toure and Arsenal midfielder Gervinho starred for Ivory Coast as they qualified for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations by winning all their matches.Toure scored the winner for Manchester City as they won the FA Cup while Gervinho was instrumental in Lille's double in France before he moved to Arsenal.Ayew, who is one of Ghana's key players, helped Marseille to win the French League Cup and Super Cup while Mali's Seydou Keita was part of Barcelona's historic Champions League winning team.Eto'o netted 21 goals for Italian side Inter Milan before leaving for Russian Anzhi Makhachkala in August and has scored seven goals in eight matches so far this season.The shortlist was determined by a panel of experts across Africa who took into consideration individual skill, technical ability, teamwork, consistency, impact on results and fair play.'This shortlist reinforces the importance of African footballers to Europe's top clubs. It will be intriguing to see who triumphs in the end,' the BBC's African Football blogger Piers Edwards said.Last year's winner, Asamoah Gyan, narrowly missed out on the shortlist.Past winners of BBC African Footballer of the Year award2010 - Asamoah Gyan (Sunderland and Ghana)2009 - Didier Drogba (Chelsea and Ivory Coast)2008 - Mohamed Aboutrika (Al Ahly and Egypt)2007 - Emmanuel Adebayor (Arsenal and Togo)2006 - Michael Essien (Chelsea and Ghana)2005 - Mohamed Barakat (Al Ahly and Egypt)2004 - Jay Jay Okocha (Bolton and Nigeria)2003 - Jay Jay Okocha (Bolton and Nigeria)2002 - El Hadji Diouf (Liverpool and Senegal)2001 - Sammy Kuffour (Bayern Munich and Ghana)2000 - Patrick Mboma (Parma and Cameroon)
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