Dortmund star surpasses Yaya Toure to win African Golden Ball

The surprise came in the 2015 African Player of the Year vote, when Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang won.

According to the results just announced this morning, Hanoi time, Aubameyang came in first with 143 points, followed by Yaya Toure with 136 points. The third place winner was Andre Ayew, midfielder of Ghana and Swansea Club, with 112 points.

Aubameyang scored 18 goals for Dortmund in the first 17 rounds of the Bundesliga this season. Photo: AFP.

This is considered a big surprise, upsetting predictions about the results of this year's election. Ever since the Confederation of African Football (CAF) announced the preliminary list of 37 candidates, Yaya Toure was predicted to be the winner, because 2015 was a year close to perfection.

The 32-year-old midfielder is the captain of the Ivory Coast national team, and had the greatest influence on the team's victory - winning the 2015 African Cup of Nations (CAN). At club level, Toure is also the most consistent African player, constantly shining for Man City, the team that finished second in the Premier League last season.

Toure is expected to win the award for the fifth consecutive year, surpassing Cameroon star Samuel Eto'o to become the player with the record number of African Ballon d'Or wins.

The 2015 CAN championship, which he contributed greatly to, was not enough for Yaya Toure to win the Golden Ball of the continent. Photo: AFP.

Aubameyang, meanwhile, has not had any outstanding achievements. At CAN 2015, as captain, he and Gabon were eliminated in the group stage. At the club level, Aubameyang and Dortmund were empty-handed on all fronts and finished seventh in the Bundesliga last season.

The brightest point about this 1m87 tall striker is just his form in the Bundesliga this season. Aubameyang is leading the league's scoring race with 18 goals in the first 17 rounds, helping the club to second place on the scoreboard, but is eight points behind leaders Bayern and is predicted to have no chance of competing for the championship.

But Aubameyang surprisingly won and became the first Gabonese player in history to win the African Ballon d'Or.

In the category of best coach of the year in African football, the winner was Herve Renard, the French strategist who led the Ivory Coast team to the 2015 CAN championship.

Renard, who won the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations with Zambia, is the first man to win the African Cup with two different teams.

According to VNE