Picture: Qatar News Agency / X
Kuala Lumpur: The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has hailed the nomination of Hassan Al Haydos, the former captain of the Qatari national football team, for the Puskas Award for best goal in 2024, presented by the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA).
The AFC posted on its official website Friday a report on the players nominated from Asia to compete for the best awards in various categories, led by Hassan Al Haydos, who led the Qatari national team to win the 2023 Asian Cup for the second time in a row in an unprecedented historical achievement.
The AFC said in its report that Al Haydos succeeded in becoming a prominent name in the category of the Puskas Award for best goal, presented by the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA).
The Qatari captain was nominated for his stunning goal against China during the 2023 AFC Asian Cup Qatar on January 22, 2024.
Al Haydos scored a wonderful goal from a corner kick, which he met with a rocket shot from outside the penalty area that went directly into China's net, giving Qatar the win in the match that brought them together in the third round of the group stage.
This goal led the Qatari team to secure the top spot in Group A and then advance steadily towards winning the title in the tournament that Qatar hosted earlier this year.
The FIFA website commented on the selection of Al Haydos' goal, who announced his retirement from international football last March, saying: "This goal was one of three goals scored by Al Haydos during Qatar's successful journey in the Asian Cup, as Al Annabi defeated Jordan in the final 3-1 and won the title for the second time in a row."
This award is named after the legendary Hungarian striker Ferenc Puskas, who was famous for his wonderful individual goals.
The award celebrates the best goals scored during the qualifying period, from August 21, 2023 to August 10, 2024.
Al Haydos was not the only Qatari national team nominee for the FIFA Best Awards, as his teammate Akram Afif was also nominated for the FIFA World XI for 2024.
The AFC praised the selection of the Qatari duo among the nominees for the Best in the World, along with the rest of the Asian continents representatives, including Japans Ayaka Yamashita, who was nominated in two categories - Best Goalkeeper and the Ideal Womens XI.
The list of nominees also included Japans womens national team coach Futoshi Ikeda, Japans players Yui Hasegawa and Saki Kumagai, and the Australian duo Ellie Carpenter and Steph Catley.
FIFA has announced the opening of voting on its official website to choose the best in a group of categories, and it will continue until December 10.
The vote will be distributed equally between the public, leaders, current coaches of the women's and men's teams, and media representatives to choose the best player, best woman player, best goalkeeper, best woman goalkeeper, and best coach in the men's category and best woman coach in the women's category.
