Zambia's footballer Christopher Katongo has this evening been voted as the African Footballer of the year and awarded the 2012 Footballer of the Year Award.
The 30-year-old Zambian
captain beat off competition from Demba Ba, Didier Drogba, Younes Belhanda and Yaya Toure to become the first winner from southern Africa in the history of the award.
Katongo holds the African Footballer Of the Year 2012 Award
Katongo told the media: "This is a fantastic moment for me. I thank the people who voted for me. It is something I will never forget in my career. "This means a lot for the young people and the young players who look up to me. I could not have achieved this without the support of my team-mates."
The 30-year-old Zambian
captain beat off competition from Demba Ba, Didier Drogba, Younes Belhanda and Yaya Toure to become the first winner from southern Africa in the history of the award.
Katongo holds the African Footballer Of the Year 2012 Award
Katongo told the media: "This is a fantastic moment for me. I thank the people who voted for me. It is something I will never forget in my career. "This means a lot for the young people and the young players who look up to me. I could not have achieved this without the support of my team-mates."
The shortlist for the award was drawn up by football experts from every country in Africa, who based their choices on players' skill, technical ability, teamwork, consistency and fair play.
And a record number of people nominated their favourite online or by text message with just over 40% of the votes going to Katongo, who plays his club football in China for Henan Construction.
He scored three goals en route to the final of the tournament in Equatorial Guinea and Gabon and then struck a successful penalty in an 8-7 shoot-out victory over favourites Ivory Coast to lift the trophy in Libreville.
It was an emotional moment for Zambia, who had suffered a tragic air disaster 19 years previously, when a plane carrying most of the national team crashed when only 500m offshore from Libreville, killing all 25 passengers and five crew.
Seven months after leading Zambia to glory Katongo was again his country's talisman, this time in a 2013 Nations Cup qualifying tie when he scored the only goal of the game in his side's final-round first leg match against Uganda.
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