SEOUL: Qatar’s Akram Afif was named Asian Football Confederation men’s player of the year on Tuesday, while Japan’s Kiko Seike took home the women’s award. Forward Afif led Qatar to the Asian Cup title at the start of the year, being named player of the tournament and winning the golden boot with eight goals, including a hat-trick against Jordan in the final.
It was the second time the 27-year-old had been named Asian player of the year. He also won the prize in 2019 after winning the Asian Cup with Qatar for the first time. Afif, who had stints in Belgium and Spain earlier in his career, also led club side Al Sadd to a domestic double in Qatar.
"I want to thank my wife, teammates and all the national team coaches and administrative staff,” he said at the AFC award ceremony in Seoul. "I will try my best to win this award for a third time.”
Afif became the third player to win the award more than once, following in the footsteps of Japan’s Hidetoshi Nakata and Uzbekistan’s Server Djeparov. Seike won the women’s prize after scoring 20 goals to help Urawa Red Diamonds Ladies win the Japanese domestic title for a second straight year.
Forward Seike was also influential as Urawa won the Asian club title, and was part of the Japan squad that reached the quarter-finals at the Paris Olympics. "I am very happy to receive this prestigious award,” said Seike, who joined England’s Brighton in July. "I will continue to do my best for my club, the national team and to raise the value of Asian football.” — AFP