Karimi among final three for Player of the Year award

TEHRAN TIMES – KUALA LUMPUR, The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has announced the final three names for the 2012 AFC Player of the Year award.
 
Persepolis midfielder Ali Karimi, Korean Lee Keun Ho, who played a key role in Ulsan Hyundai’s victorious AFC Champions League 2012 campaign and Chinese defender of Guangzhou Evergrande Zheng Zhi have maintained their places in the list.
 
Australian defender Lucas Neill (Al Jazeera, the UAE) and Iranian defender Mohsen Bengar (Persepolis) have failed to make the final shortlist.
 
Ali Karimi will vie for his second award. He was given the prestigious award in 2004.
 
According to AFC, The former Bayern Munich midfielder was instrumental for Iran in their ongoing FIFA World Cup 2014 Asian Qualifiers campaign and also made appearances in the 2012 AFC Champions League for Persepolis
 
“I think the Korean player has more chance to win the award. Nonetheless, I am so glad to be in the list. It’s a great honor for my country but I have to say it was unexpected seeing myself in the list,” Ali Karimi said.
 
The AFC Player of the Year award will be presented at a grand ceremony on November 29, 2012, at the Mandarin Oriental in Kuala Lumpur.
 
 
AFC DREAM ASIA AWARD
 
All Nepal Football Association  (Nepal)
 
SALT Academy  (Cambodia)
 
United Arab Emirates Football Association  (UAE)
 
Myanmar Football Federation  (Myanmar )
 
National Unity & Integrity Dept (JPNIN) -(Malaysia)
 
AFC MEMBER ASSOCIATION OF THE YEAR
 
IR Iran Football Federation
 
Japan Football Association
 
Korea Football Association
 
Qatar Football Association
 
AFC FAIR PLAY ASSOCIATION OF THE YEAR
 
Football Federation Australia
 
IR Iran Football Federation
 
Uzbekistan Football Federation
 
AFC CLUB OF THE YEAR
 
Al Ahli (Saudi Arabia)
 
Kuwait SC (Kuwait)
 
Ulsan Hyundai  (Korea Republic)
 
AFC FUTSAL TEAM OF THE YEAR
 
Iran

Japan

Thailand
 
AFC NATIONAL TEAM OF THE YEAR
 
WOMEN
 
DPR Korea U-17 Team
 
Japan Olympic Team
 
Japan U-20 Team
 
MEN
 
Japan Olympic Team
 
Korea Olympic Team
 
UAE Olympic Team
 
AFC ASSISTANT REFEREE OF THE YEAR
 
WOMEN
 
Cui Yongmei (China)
 
Kim Kyoung Min (Korea Republic)
 
Widiya Habibah Binti Shamsuri (Malaysia)
 
MEN
 
Bakhadyr Kochkarov (Kyrgyzstan)
 
Matthew James Cream (Australia)
 
Rasulov Abdukhamidullo (Uzbekistan)
 
AFC REFEREE OF THE YEAR
 
WOMEN
 
Qin Liang (China)
 
Ri Hyang Ok (DPR Korea)
 
Yamagishi Sachiko (Japan)
 
MEN
 
Faghani Alireza Mohammad ( Iran)
 
Ravshan Irmatov (Uzbekistan)
 
Yuichi Nishimura (Japan)
 
AFC COACH OF THE YEAR
 
WOMEN
 
Honda Midori (Japan)
 
Takemoto Asako (Japan)
 
Tezuka Takako (Japan)
 
MEN
 
Hong Myung Bo (Korea Republic)
 
Kim Ho Kon (Korea Republic)
 
Sasaki Norio (Japan)
 
AFC FUTSAL PLAYER OF THE YEAR
 
Mohamad Keshavarz (Iran)
 
Rafael Henmi (Japan)
 
Thueanklang Suphawut (Thailand)
 
AFC YOUTH PLAYER OF THE YEAR
 
WOMEN
 
Hasegawa Yui (Japan)
 
Ri Hyang Sim (DPR Korea)
 
Shibata Hanae (Japan)
 
MEN
 
Mohanad Abdulraheem Karrar (Iraq)
 
Moon Chang Jin (Korea Republic)
 
Taro Sugimoto (Japan)
 
AFC ASIAN INTERNATIONAL PLAYER OF THE YEAR
 
Mark Schwarzer (Australia) – Fulham, England
 
Shinji Kagawa (Japan) – Manchester United, England
 
Yuto Nagatomo (Japan) – Inter Milan, Italy
 
AFC FOREIGN PLAYER OF THE YEAR            
 
Bruno Correa (Brazil) – Foolad Sepahan (Iran)
 
Ricardo de Oliveira (Brazil) – Al Jazira (UAE)
 
Rogerio de Assis Silva Coutinho (Brazil)- Kuwait SC (Kuwait)
 
AFC WOMEN’S PLAYER OF THE YEAR
 
Aya Miyama (Japan)
 
Homare Sawa (Japan)
 
Yuki Ogimi (Japan)
 
AFC PLAYER OF THE YEAR
 
Lee Keun Ho (Korea Republic)
 
Mohammad Ali Karimi (Iran)
 
Zheng Zhi (China)