Keshi Voted Yaya Tourè As World Footballer Of The Year...

Super Eagles coach Stephen Keshi and Nigeria captain Joseph Yobo were part of the process that produced Lionel Messi as the Ballon d’Or winner for a record fourth time on Monday but the two had different opinions on who should be the best player in the world.

In the full list of the votes for the award released by FIFA shortly after the event, it was revealed that Keshi voted for African Footballer of the Year, Yaya Toure of Ivory Coast while captain Yobo gave his vote to the eventual winner, Messi.

The winner for the award is always decided based on decisions made by international coaches, captains and a selection of the media representatives from each member nation.

Keshi’s solidarity with African products saw him giving his second vote to former Chelsea striker Didier Drogba of Ivory Coast while his third vote went to Manchester United’s Robin van Persie.

Keshi’s choice Toure finished outside the top 10 while Drogba was ranked eighth in the world. Van Persie was not listed in the top 10 too.

Yobo got it right as Messi won while his second pick Cristiano Ronaldo came second. However, his third choice Neymar of Brazil finished outside the top 10.

Yaya Toure is named the 2012 African Player of the Year

Manchester City midfielder YayaToure has been named the African Player of the Year for a second time.

Toure beat fellow Ivory Coast star and former Chelsea striker Didier Drogba into second place with former Arsenal midfielder Alex Song third.

He won the 2012 poll in a vote of head coaches or technical directors of countries affiliated to the Confederation of African Football.

Ex-Barcelona striker Samuel Eto'o holds the most titles, having won four times.

African Nations Cup winners Zambia were named team of the year with their coach Herve Renard named coach of the year.

BBC African Footballer of the Year 2012 shortlist revealed

The five candidates for the BBC African Footballer of the Year 2012 award have been revealed.

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Yaya Toure has made the shortlist for the second consecutive year and he is joined by his Ivory Coast team-mate Didier Drogba, Senegal's Demba Ba, Morocco's Younes Belhanda and Zambia skipper Christopher Katongo.