KUALA LUMPUR: Ulsan Hyundai’s Lee Keun-Ho and four others will vie for the Asian player of the year award, the Asian Football Confederation announced yesterday.
Iran’s Ali Karimi, the 2004 AFC player of the year, and the Iran national team’s Mohsen Bengar are also among those nominated, Asian football’s governing body said in a statement.
The other two are Socceroo defender Lucas Neill of Australia and Guangzhou Evergrande’s defender Zheng Zhi of China.
Lee, a winger for South Korea’s national team, helped Ulsan Hyundai win the AFC Champions League for the first time this year.
The women’s player of the year award will go to a Japanese, with all three nominees coming from the Japan national team.
They are captain Homare Sawa, last year’s winner Aya Miyama and Nadeshiko striker Yuki Ogimi. Sawa won the FIFA Women’s World Player of the Year award last year.
For Asian international player of the year -- a new category -- nominations went to Fulham’s goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer of Australia, Manchester United’s Japanese midfielder Shinji Kagawa and Inter Milan’s defender Yuto Nagatomo, also from Japan.afp
