Yacine Brahimi  has been voted the BBC African Footballer of the Year 2014.

The 24-year-old midfielder becomes the first Algerian to win the award, which is decided by football fans around the world. Porto winger Brahimi told BBC Sport: “It’s a big honour for me to receive this wonderful trophy. I owe it to my country, Algeria, and to all the people who voted for me.

“It’s also a trophy for the whole of Africa, because it rewards an African player. So I am really very happy.”  After a record number of votes were submitted from fans in 207 FIFA-registered countries, Brahimi came out on top ahead of Nigerian Vincent Enyeama, Gabonese Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Ivorian pair Gervinho and Yaya Toure.

And he is thrilled to have been acclaimed as the best player on the continent for the past year.