Cameroon and Barcelona striker Samuel Eto'o won Africa's top player award for the third straight year, beating two Chelsea players -- Didier Drogba of Ivory Coast and Michael Essien of Ghana.
Eto'o scored 108 points in votes cast by African national team coaches to secure a narrow win over Drogba, with 106 points, in the award organized by the Confederation of African Football. The confederation announced the results in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, on Thursday night. Essien came third with 50 points. Eto'o, who won the award in 2003 and 2004, dedicated his latest win to his mother and the children of Africa.
Nigeria's John Mikel Obi was crowned Africa's best young player for 2005. The teenager, who is at the center of a transfer tussle between English soccer giants Manchester United and Chelsea, was instrumental in Nigeria reaching the final of the FIFA World Youth Championship in the Netherlands.
Another Nigerian, Perpetua Nkwocha, won the prize for Africa's top female soccer player for the second year in a row.