Doha: Qatar’s Khalfan Ibrahim, the 2006 AFC player of the year who turns out for Al Sadd, yesterday said he was honoured to make it onto the AFC Player of the Year shortlist again.
“For me this is a great honour, personally and for my club and country. To be among such great players makes me feel proud and we are all worthy of winning this accolade. The biggest honour is for Qatar, as our flag will also be shown at the ceremony. This contest is very important as it symbolises the biggest continent in the world.”
The other two players to be nominated for AFC Player of the Year are Al Hilal’s Nassir Al Shamrani and Al Ain defender Ismail Ahmed.
Khalfan said the primary reason that these players were chosen was that they had all performed outstandingly for their clubs in the Asian Champions League (ACL).
Al Hilal was in the final of the ACL competition while Al Ain got to the semi-finals and Al Sadd reached the quarter-finals.
However, there was no room on the shortlist for any Western Sydney Wanderers players, despite their achievement in becoming Australia’s first AFC Champions League winners on their tournament debut.
The AFC said the “fiery” Al Shamrani got the nod after scoring 10 goals for Al Hilal in Asia’s club showpiece.
The Wanderers’ overlooked stand-outs include goalkeeper Ante Covic, who was named the AFC Champions League’s most valuable player and pulled off a string of saves in the final.
The winners will be announced at an awards ceremony in Manila on November 30.
THE PENINSULA
