Caf to honour African legends

The Confederation of African Football (Caf) will host their annual award ceremony in Accra, Ghana next week and the continents football governing body will be awarding their Legends Award to two former Premier League stars.

Jay Jay Okocha, whose flair and technical ability brought pleasure to Premier League fans up and down the country with spells at Bolton and Hull was nominated alongside former Coventry and Aston Villa winger Mustapha Hadji for the prestigious award. Okocha, 38, will long be remembered by English fans for his amazing skill and the way that he enjoyed every minute of his time on the football pitch.

The former Nigerian captain moved to Bolton from Paris St. Germain in 2002 and was the creative force behind Sam Allardyce's side. After 3 years as captain and 124 appearances for the Wanderers Okocha moved to Qatar for a season before returning to England with Hull in 2007. He featured 18 times for the Tigers in their promotion winning season but failed to do enough to earn a contract to feature for the side in the Premiership. Okocha then announced his retirement following his release from the club.

Okocha played at three World Cups during his career and five African Cup of Nations tournaments, winning it once in 1994. The Nigerian playmaker also won a gold medal at the 1996 Olympics for his nation and was named the best African player by the BBC in both 2003 and 2004.

Moroccan midfielder Hadji's career saw him play in seven different countries and representing his country 64 times and at two World Cups in 1994 and 1998 and at two African Cup of Nations tournaments (1998 and 2000). Hadji was named African player of the year in 1998, beating Okocha to the prize in second place by just two points and moved to Coventry a year later. Gordon Strachan was in charge at the time and Hadji remained with the Sky Blues for two years before moving to Aston Villa in 2001 where he remained until 2004. Hadji was playing up until last season in Luxembourg's BGL League with Fola Esch before retiring in July 2010.

For two players who battled it out in 1998 to be recognised as the best players of their continent it will be a fitting tribute on December 22 when they stand as equals and are rewarded for their successes in the sport.