Glory beckons for Khama Billiat

Sisasenkosi Ncube
THE road to African Player of the Year based in Africa award took another step closer when Confederations of African Football (Caf) released the top five candidates for the accolade.

The last five standing players are Zimbabweaï¿½ï¿½s Khama Billiat, South African duo Hlompho Kekana and Keegan Dolly, Zambiaaï¿½ï¿½s Rainford Kalaba and Ugandan goalie, Dennis Onyango.

It is almost certain that the award will be finally coming down south after 28 years with four of the five shortlisted players coming from the Southern African region.

However, according to the criteria used by Caf, the real race will be between Khama and Onyango who are the two players who meet all the aspects of the criterion used to pick the best player in Africa.

According to the African football governing body, an African player of the Year should contribute significantly to his national team, to his club in the champions league and in the domestic league.

Billiat and Onyango are the two players who meet all the requirements as the Ugandan goalkeeper helped the Cranes (Uganda) to their first ever African Cup of Nations since 39 years by keeping four clean sheets in six games for his national side.

The player also kept 12 clean sheets for his club Mamelodi Sundowns in 22 league matches and thus earning himself an Absa Premier League Golden Glove accolade for the 2015-16 season.

Billiat on the other hand has been instrumental for both his club team, Mamelodi Sundowns and for the Warriors as the attacking midfielder posted a top drawer season in South African league by scoring 10 goals and recorded 20 assists in all competitions, earning himself the leagueaï¿½ï¿½s player of the year accolade and the playeraï¿½ï¿½s player of the year for his club.

The Zimbabwean dribbling wizard also guided the Warriors to their first Afcon qualifier since 2006 by scoring three goals during the tournamentaï¿½ï¿½s qualifiers; he also scored three goals accompanied by assists when Sundowns clinched the Caf champions league trophy for the first time, cementing his claim of becoming the African best player of the year based in Africa.

The other three nominees have played a huge role to the success of their respective clubs as Kalaba helped his club side T.P Mazembe clinch the league title and the Caf confederations and finished as top scorer of the tournament after banging in seven goals.

However, he falls short of the Caf requirements as he failed to help Zambia qualify for the 2017 edition of the Nations Cup.

South African duo of Kekana and Dolly have had an eventful year. At club level they contributed significantly to AmaSandawanaaï¿½ï¿½s continental triumph and individually as Kekanaaï¿½ï¿½s 60 meter drive goal against Cameroon was nominated for the Fifaaï¿½ï¿½sAï¿½ goal of the year (Puskas award).

Dolly helped the South African U23 side qualify for the Rio Olympic games, but his chances of getting the top accolade will be rather slim as he failed to transform his club form to theAï¿½ national team that crushed out of the Afcon after a 3-1 shock defeat to lowly ranked Mauritania.

The awards to be hosted in Abuja Nigeria next year in January will also see Caf announcing the African Player of the Year with the accoladeaï¿½ï¿½s top five shortlisted players plying their trade in Europe. .