Qatari Akram Afif and Jordanian Yazan Al-Naimat are competing with South Korean Young Seol for the Best Player Award in the Yellow Continent for the year 2023 according to a list revealed by the Asian Football Confederation on Tuesday.
Afif is seeking to win the award for the second time in his career after the first in 2019, after he helped lead his country to the Asian Nations Cup title for the first time in its history, before contributing to achieving the same title for the second time last year when Qatar hosted the finals.
Afif excelled remarkably in the last edition of the continental tournament and became the first player to score three goals in the final match, where he finished the tournament with 8 goals and three assists, and was crowned with the best player and best scorer awards.
Afif also continued to shine with his club Al-Sadd, leading them to win a record seventeenth Qatari League title, after scoring 26 goals and providing 11 assists during 22 matches.
On the other hand, Al-Naimat hopes to become the first Jordanian player to win the award, relying on his being one of the main players behind his country’s wonderful journey in the Asian Cup when it reached the final for the first time in its history.
Al-Naimat, a professional with Al-Arabi Qatar, scored four goals and made two assists in the continental finals. He also contributed to Al-Nashama team’s lead in its group in the second round of the Asian qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup, where he scored three goals.
On the other hand, Seoul shone with South Korea through a series of strong performances after his first appearance with the senior national team in June 2023. He played all his matches in the 2023 Asian Cup, and assisted the equalizer in stoppage time against Saudi Arabia in the eighth final.
He also excelled with his team, Ulsan, and contributed to its winning the local league title for the second time in a row and reaching the semi-finals of the 2023-2024 AFC Champions League.
The twenty-eighth annual AFC Awards will be held at the Grand Peace Palace at Kyung Hee University on October 29.
The award list of referees included Omani Turki Abdullah Al-Salhi, Emirati Ibrahim Yousef Al-Raisi, and Japanese referee Yuichi Hatano.
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