CAMEROON and Barcelona striker Samuel Eto'o had the last laugh over Ivory Coast and Chelsea striker Didier Drogba at the end of the MTN Africa Cup of Nations.

The tournament ended here on Friday with the hosts Egypt winning a record fifth title beating the West African nation 4-2 on penalties.

The match had ended 0-0 after extra time. Drogba was one of the villains as his penalty was saved by Essam El Hadary, the Egyptian goalkeeper. The Ivorian striker Drogba taunted Eto'o after he missed a penalty in the 11-12 penalty shoot-out defeat on February 4 at Cairo Military Stadium. Drogba then scored the winning penalty.

"I am better than you. I am the best player in Africa," he said then. "I am better than Eto'o, the only difference is he knows how to publicise himself. If you are talking about football, I am better player."

Both players are contesting for the GLOBACOM Africa Footballer of the year award whose winner is to be announced in Abuja, Nigeria on February 16. Michael Essien of Chelsea/ Lyon and Ghana is the third contestant.

On February 22, 2006 both players will renew their rivalry on the field when Chelsea hosts Barcelona in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League.

The Cameroon striker also finished as the tournament top scorer with 5 goals in four matches. Ahmed Hassan (Egypt), Dos Santos (Tunisia), Pascal Feindouno (Guinea) finished with four goals each while Drogba (Ivory Coast), Amado Flavio (Angola) Mohamed Emad (Egypt) each scored three goals.

A total of 73 goals were scored in 32 matches at an average of 2.35 goals per match. This was 15 goals less than in the 2004 edition held in Tunisia.