Manchester City midfield powerhouse Yaya Toure has beaten his Ivorian compatriot Didier Drogba to be crowned African Footballer of the Year for a second time running.
The 29-year-old helped his country reach the African Cup of Nations final and was one of the key men as Roberto Mancini’s side won the Barclays Premier League in May.
Barcelona midfielder Alex Song, who left Arsenal in the summer, finished third as the award was made at the African Football gala in Accra, Ghana.
Although Toure has not quite been able to replicate his form this season, his incredible power and tenacity helped City dominate games last term.
He grabbed six goals in the top flight including two in the penultimate match against Newcastle – which City won 2-0 and gave them a fighting chance of snatching the title from rivals Manchester United on the final day.
The Ivory Coast lost to Zambia in the final of the African Cup of Nation in a penalty shoot-out, but Toure had been substituted by that point.
Zambia were rewarded for their success by being named African Team of the Year and their boss, Herve Renard, was Coach of the Year.
Toure joined Senegalese forward El-Hadji Diouf on two victories, although it is unlikely he will be able to eclipse Cameroonian ex-Barcelona striker Samuel Eto’o, who picked up the title four times.
Drogba, 34, was also in with a strong chance of winning the award because of his influence on Chelsea’s successful pursuit of the Champions League title.
When the going got tough in Europe, the striker was there to produce for his side.
With the Blues needing a result in their final group game against Valencia to qualify, Drogba struck twice and was at his dominating best, despite indifferent domestic form, to get Andre Villas-Boas’s team through.
After the Portuguese manager was sacked, Drogba gave his replacement Roberto Di Matteo a huge boost in his third game in charge.
He opened the scoring and turned in another superb display as Chelsea came back from a first-leg defeat to rout Napoli before grabbing another crucial goal against Barcelona in the semi-final.
Drogba saved the best for last – equalising against Bayern Munich in the dying moments with a bullet header, then converting the deciding penalty in the shoot-out.
After his key contribution Drogba left the club on a free transfer, moving to Chinese side Shanghai Shenhua.
Song, meanwhile, came into his own under Arsene Wenger at Arsenal.
The 25-year-old curbed previous indiscipline and became a creative force going forward – his incisive passes to Robin van Persie were a key combination in the Gunners’ attack.
Barcelona picked him up for £16million in the summer and he has featured 14 times for the Spanish giants since.