AL AIN // UAE manager Mahdi Ali says Omar Abdulrahman should be crowned Asian Player of the Year after he was confirmed on Wednesday as one of the three contenders for the coveted award.
The Al Ain captain, who completed 73 minutes of the UAE's 2-0 victory against Bahrain in a friendly at the Hazza bin Zayed Stadium, has been nominated for the individual title alongside Iraq's Hammadi Ahmed and China's Wu Lei. The awards ceremony takes place in Abu Dhabi on December 1.
See also:
• Omar Abdulrahman makes Asian Player of the Year shortlist as presumed favourite
• UAE beat Bahrain 2-0 in preparation for Iraq World Cup assignment in Abu Dhabi
Abdulrahman is favourite after his stunning contribution to Al Ain’s run to this month’s Asian Champions League final. A standout throughout, he has been voted man of the match eight times in 12 appearances thus far.
At last year’s Asian Football Confederation awards, Abdulrahman finished third to compatriot Ahmed Khalil in the player-of-the-year race. The Al Ahli striker, who played a prominent role in his club’s run to that season’s Champions League final, was the first Emirati to be named Asia’s best player.
Speaking after the Bahrain win on Wednesday night, Mahdi Ali said he hoped Abdulrahman would make it successive successes for the UAE.
“Omar deserves to be not only nominated, but to be the best player in Asia,” he said. “Last year, he was very close and I hope this year he will be selected as the best player. Especially because with his team in the past seven or eight games he was the man of the match. So he deserves to take the best player in Asia.”
Al Ain, Asian champions in 2003, take on South Korea’s Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors in the first match of the two-legged final in Jeonju on November 19.
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