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AFC – Saudi Arabia internationals Sami Al
Jaber and Hamad Al Montashari have been short-listed with Uzbekistan striker
Maksim Shatskikh for the 2005 AFC Player of the Year award, to be presented
in Kuala Lumpur next week.
The Asian Football Confederation revealed the three candidates for the
prestigious annual award on Monday, from an original list of 10 nominees.
The winner is to be announced at the AFC Awards Gala on November 30.
Veteran Saudi skipper Al Jaber and youngster Al Montashari both played
influential roles for their country this year as they qualified for the FIFA
World Cup for the fourth time in a row.
Both also helped their respective clubs to glory, Al Jaber inspiring Al
Hilal to a domestic league and cup double in Saudi Arabia, while Al
Montashari’s Al Ittihad side captured the continent’s most prestigious club
title, the AFC Champions League, as well as the Arab Champions League.
Shatskikh was also nominated after nearly helping Uzbekistan to their first
World Cup appearance. The 27-year-old scored three goals in his country’s
qualifying campaign but the Uzbeks were eliminated by Bahrain on away goals
in the playoffs for a spot in Germany.
Shatskikh’s club side Dynamo Kiev finished second to Shaktar Donetsk in the
2004/05 Ukraine league season but beat the league champions 1-0 in the
Ukraine cup final.
The AFC have also nominated two teenagers for the AFC Young Player of the
Year award. China goalkeeper Wang Dalei and DPR Korea midfielder Choe Myong
Ho both helped their teams reach the quarter-finals at the FIFA U-17 World
Championship in September.
Two new awards will be presented by the AFC at this year’s gala. The AFC
Association of the Year will reward a Member Association for development
work done at grassroots and professional levels, while the Diamond of Asia
award recognises the contribution of an Asian individual towards the
development and promotion of football.
LIST OF NOMINEES
AFC PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Sami Al Jaber (Saudi Arabia & Al Hilal), Hamad Al Montashari (Saudi Arabia &
Al Ittihad), Maksim Shatskikh (Uzbekistan & Dynamo Kiev/UKR)
AFC WOMAN'S PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Ma Xiaoxu (China), Hara Natasuko and Nagasato Asano (both Japan).
AFC YOUTH PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Choe Myong Ho (DPR Korea), Wang Dalei (China)
AFC MATCH OFFICIAL OF THE YEAR
Khalil Ibrahim Al Ghamdi (Saudi Arabia), Shamsul Maidin (Singapore),
Subkhiddin Mohd Salleh (Malaysia)
AFC FUTSAL TEAM OF THE YEAR
Iran, Japan
AFC WOMEN'S NATIONAL TEAM OF THE YEAR
China U-17s, Japan U-17s, Thailand U-17s
AFC NATIONAL TEAM OF THE YEAR
Iran, Japan, Korea Republic, Saudi Arabia
AFC ASSOCIATION OF THE YEAR
Japan, Nepal, Qatar
AFC CLUB TEAM OF THE YEAR
Al Ain (UAE), Al Ittihad (KSA)
AFC FAIR PLAY TEAM OF THE YEAR
Hong Kong, Korea Republic, Lebanon
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