AFC Player of the Year nominees: 33 in contention for top award

(AFC) Iraq”s AFC Asian Cup winning captain Younis Mahmoud, Saudi Arabia”s striker Yasser Al Qahtani, Japanese midfielder Yasuhito Endo and Korea Republic goalkeeper Lee Won Jae are among the thirty-three candidates in contention for this year”s AFC Player of the Year award.

This list, which came out after Match Day 2 of AFC Final Round for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games played on September 8, 2007, provides the very latest result on players vying for this coveted award.

The AFC Annual Awards ceremony will be held on November 28, 2007, in Sydney”s Hordern Pavilion.

Players who have garnered 40 or more points in this year”s AFC or FIFA competitions so far have been included in this primary list. The continent”s showpiece AFC Asian Cup threw up some top names while others made it through AFC Champions League, AFC Final Round for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, AFC Cup and other competitions played throughout 2007.

Urawa Reds midfielder Shinji Ono, who played a stellar role in his club”s progression to the AFC Champions League quarter-finals, Iraq”s Nashat Akram, Iranian stalwart Javad Nekounam, Japan and Kawasaki Frontale midfielder Kengo Nakamura also found their way into the list.

Kuwait”s Bader Al Mutawa, who was the first runner-up to Qatar”s Khalfan Ibrahim in last year”s AFC Player of the Year award in Abu Dhabi, Uzbekistan”s Azizbek Haydarov, Al Wahda (UAE)”s Abdul Raheem Al Jenaibi and Thailand Teeratep Winothai are also among the contenders.

The list includes five players from Iraq, four from Japan, three from Saudi Arabia, two each from Iran, Korea Republic, Thailand, Kuwait, Vietnam, Oman and Syria and one each from the UAE, Australia, Bahrain, Uzbekistan, DPR Korea, Tajikistan and China.

AFC Player of the Year nominees (in alphabetical order; as of September 11, 2007)

1. AKRAM Nashat (Iraq)

2. ALI Said (Iraq)

3. AL ASTAA Abdullah (Saudi Arabia)

4. AL GHWAINIM Saleh (Saudi Arabia)

5. AL IBRAHIM Mohanad (Syria)

6. AL JENAIBI Abdul Raheem (UAE)

7. AL MAHAIJRI Ahmed (Oman)

8. AL MUTAWA Bader (Kuwait)

9. AL NOOBI Hani Bait (Oman)

10. AL QAHTANI Yasser (Saudi Arabia)

11. ANH Duc Nguyen (Vietnam)

12. CONG Vinh Le (Vietnam)

13. DODD Travis (Australia)

14. DONG won Han (Korea Republic)

15. ENDO Yasuhito (Japan)

16. HASAN Ismaeel (Bahrain)

17. HAYDAROV Azizbek (Uzbeksitan)

18. HIRAYAMA Sota (Japan)

19. HOLMATOV Akmal (Tajikistan)

20. JASSIM Karrar (Iraq)

21. KHSHEN Ala”a (Iraq)

22. KOEDPUDSA Weera (Thailand)

23. LEE Woon Jae (Korea Republic)

24. MAHMOUD Younis (Iraq)

25. MANDO Iyad (Syria)

26. MATAR Khaled (Kuwait)

27. MEHDI Salehi Seyed Mohamed (Iran)

28. NAKAMURA Kengo (Japan)

29. NEKOUNAM Javad (Iran)

30. ONO Shinji (Japan)

31. PAK Nam Chol (DPR Korea)

32. WANG Youngpo (China)

33. WINOTHAI Teeratep (Thailand)

The AFC