HONG KONG (Reuters) – Qatar’s Asian Cup winning captain Akram Afif has been nominated for a second Asian Player of the Year award, joining Jordan’s Yazan Al-Naimat and Seol Young-woo of South Korea on the Asian Football Confederation’s three-man shortlist.
Australia’s Cortnee Vine as well as Kiko Seike from Japan and South Korea’s Kim Hye-ri have been nominated for the women’s title, with the winners of both awards to be announced in Seoul on Oct. 29.
Afif previously won in 2019 and is favourite to reclaim the trophy after leading his nation to a second consecutive continental title in February, when hosts Qatar defeated Jordan in the Asian Cup final.
Recently departed Australia coach Graham Arnold has been nominated for the men’s coach of the year award alongside Go Oiwa, who led Japan to the quarter-finals of the Olympic Games, and South Korea’s Asian Games gold medal winner Hwang Sun-hong.
Arnold quit the Socceroos role last month after a disappointing start to the third phase of Asia’s World Cup qualifiers and has since been replaced by Tony Popovic.
Japan’s Tomoki Miyamoto, Park Yeon-jeong of South Korea and Australia’s Leah Blayney have been nominated for the women’s coaching award.
(Reporting by Michael Church, Editing by Toby Davis)
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