Iran`s Ali Karimi among three nominated for AFC Player of the Year award

KUALA LUMPUR,Nov.26(MNA) – 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)