Abedi voted 5th best African player

...Roger Milla -Africa's Best
Essien - 11^th, Yeboah- 24, Razak -26, Kuffour - 28^th
Abedi "Pele" Ayew has been voted the 5th best African player for the last 50 years by the Confederation of African Football (CAF).

Abedi, ex-National team soccer captain, polled 1,783 votes while Cameroon legend Roger Milla topped the list with 2246 votes as the best African player for the period between 1957-2007 following voting conducted on the internet recently.

The Cameroon World Cup star was chosen in a poll by followers of African football through CAF's website ahead of the confederation's fiftieth anniversary celebrations next month.

Milla, who starred at three World Cups with the Indomitable Lions (1982, 1990 and 1994), polled a total 2246 points to beat Egypt's Mahmoud El-Khatib, who recorded 2165 points.

Egypt and Ghana topped the list with five players each on the list of 30 players.

In the top 10 are Hossam Hassan (Egypt/2011 points), Samuel Eto'o (Cameroon/1840), Abedi Pele (Ghana/1783), George Weah (Liberia/1604), Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast/1467), Nwankwo Kanu (Nigeria/1209), Rabeh Madjer (Algeria/1176) and Kalusha Bwalya (Zambia/1073).

Caf is planning several events to commemorate fiftieth anniversary celebrations, including a youth tournament involving Caf's four founder members - Egypt, Ethiopia, South Africa and Sudan.

Top 20 Africans from 50 years

(Position, player, country, votes. Asterik denotes active footballer)

 1.   Roger Milla          Cameroon       2,246 
 2.   Mahmoud al-Khatib    Egypt          2,165 
 3.   Hossam Hassan*       Egypt          2,011 
 4.   Samuel Eto'o*        Cameroon       1,840 
 5.   Abedi Pele           Ghana          1,783 
 6.   George Weah          Liberia        1,604 
 7.   Didier Drogba*       Ivory Coast    1,467 
 8.   Nwankwo Kanu*        Nigeria        1,209 
 9.   Rabeh Madjer         Algeria        1,176 
 10.  Kalusha Bwalya       Zambia         1,073 
 11.  Michael Essien*      Ghana            996 
 12.  Austin Okocha*       Nigeria          921 
 13.  Saleh Selim          Egypt            850 
 14.  Lahcene Lalmas       Algeria          791 
 15.  Benni McCarthy*      South Africa     782 
 16.  El-Hadji Diouf*      Senegal          711 
 17.  Noureddine Naybet*   Morocco          692 
 18.  Rashidi Yekini       Nigeria          649 
 19.  Hany Ramzy           Egypt            608 
 20.  Hassan Shehata       Egypt            605 
 [....]
 24.  Anthony Yeboah        Ghana
 26   Abdul Razak           Ghana
 28.  Sammy Kuffour         Ghana