Newly-crowned Qatar Football Association (QFA) Player of the Year Nam Tae-hee believes his club, Lekhwiya SC, has it in them to reach the final of the AFC Champions League this year, thereby giving people of Qatar another reason to rejoice following the successful launch of the redeveloped Khalifa International Stadium.
After beating an accomplished field – comprising of Al Sadd duo Xavi Hernandez and Hassan Al Haydos to his first QFA award – the South Korean international told www.sc.qa that the people of Qatar fully deserved the redeveloped Khalifa International Stadium.
“They have got back their home of football, redeveloped as a 2022 World Cup stadium and they deserve it,” said the 25-year-old playmaker, whose club take on Iranian giants Persepolis at the imposing Azadi Stadium in Tehran today.
“It would therefore be befitting if one of Qatar’s football clubs does well on the Asian stage this year,” he continued.
“We have built up some experience in the Asian Champions League over the years and believe we can reach the final this year.
“Persepolis are a tough opponent but we can return to Doha taking a lead from the first leg. We believe we can trouble top clubs from China and those from Asia’s major footballing nations such as Iran, Japan and Korea this year.”
Evidence from the group stages of Asia’s premier club competition supports Tae-hee.
After sharing points in Iran, Lekhwiya defeated Esteghlal Khuzestan 2-1 in Doha in Group B in a tough contest. After the Iranian champions of 2015-16 had taken the lead, Tae-hee equalised with a scintillating left-footed strike from the edge of the box and QFA Under-23 Player of the Year Almoez Ali scored the winner.
He registered 14 goals and nine assists in his 25 QSL appearances during the 2016-17 campaign and, according to Qatar Stars League analytics provider STATS, had a passing accuracy of 91.6%.
Such was his consistency, his pass completion rate even outshone one of the most widely admired passers of the ball the game has ever seen – Xavi, who came in second at 89.2%.
“Xavi deserved the award,” said Nam. “He played all the games and helped Al Sadd win two cup competitions. It feels great to win my first ever Player of the Year trophy with Xavi and Haydoos also in contention. I have very high regard for both of them.”
Nam will brush shoulders with the Qatar national team captain again on June 13 in Doha as his national team seeks to clinch a berth in the 2018 FIFA World Cup, thereby continuing an uninterrupted streak of playing in the world’s biggest tournament stretching back to Mexico 1986.
The South Korean star signed off by saying he is focused on the Persepolis challenge. An example of the dedication, commitment and professionalism that has made the 2017 QFA Player of the Year one of the league’s leading lights, and a fan’s favourite over the past six years.
