Today, Tuesday, the Asian Football Confederation announced the shortlists of candidates to win the 2023 annual awards, less than a month before the ceremony.
Asia’s best stars, led by the AFC Women’s Player of the Year and AFC Women’s Player awards, will be crowned on October 29 at the 28th annual AFC Awards , at the Grand Peace Palace of Kyung Hee University in South Korea.
A group of brilliant stars compete to win the Best Player in Asia award, including:
- Jordanian Yazan Al-Naimat
- South Korean Seol Young-woo
- The Qatari Akram Afif.
Al-Naimat, one of the key players behind Jordan’s unforgettable campaign at the Qatar Asian Cup 2023, contributed by scoring 4 goals and assisting 2 goals, to help his country reach the final of the tournament for the first time in its history.
The striker led the attack with confidence and 3 of his goals came in the qualifying rounds (round of 16 and semi-finals, in addition to his country’s goal in the final).
Al-Naimat also helped Jordan top their group in the second round of the Asian World Cup qualifiers, where he scored 3 goals to keep Jordan on track towards their first World Cup appearance.
On the other hand, Afif performed well at the 2023 Asian Cup, where defending champions Qatar retained their home title in distinctive fashion.
He became the first player to score a hat-trick in a final, finishing the tournament with 8 goals and 3 assists, winning the Best Player and Top Scorer awards.
Afif also continued to shine with Al Sadd, leading the team to win a record 17th Qatar League title, after scoring 26 goals and providing 11 assists in 22 matches, and he is looking forward to winning this award for the second time after 2019.
Below is a list of the most important awards and their nominees:
The best player in Asia
- Yazan Al-Naimat (Al-Ahly/Al-Arabi, Jordan)
- Seol Young-woo (Ulsan/Crvena Zvezda, South Korea)
- Akram Afif (Al Sadd, Qatar)
The best player in Asia
- Courtney Fine (Sydney/NC Courage, Australia)
- Keiko Seki (Urawa Red Diamonds/Brighton Hove Albion, Japan)
- Kim Hee-ri (Hyundai Steel Red Angels, South Korea)
Best professional player outside the continent (men)
- Mehdi Taremi (Porto/Inter Milan, Iran)
- Musa Al-Taamari (Montpellier, Jordan)
- Son Heung-min (Tottenham Hotspur, South Korea)
Best Coach in Asia (Men)
- Graham Arnold (Australia)
- Joe Oiwa (Japan U23)
- Hwang Soon-Hong (South Korea U-23 national team)
Best Young Player (Men)
- Gaku Nawata (Kamimura Gakuin High School, Japan)
- Bae Jun-ho (citizen of Daejeon Hana/Stoke City, South Korea)
- Abbasbek Fayzulayev (CSKA Moscow, Uzbekistan)