Three S. Korean footballers nominated for annual Asian award

SEOUL, Sept. 15 (Yonhap) -- Three South Korean football players have been nominated for the annual top player honors in Asia, the regional governing body of the sport said Thursday. Koo Ja-cheol, Yeom Ki-hun and Ha Tae-goon are among 15 candidates for the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Player of the Year award. South Korea and Iran have three players each to lead the list, followed by two from Japan. According to the AFC, the list will be revised in October after the continental qualification rounds for the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the 2012 London Olympics, plus the AFC Champions League, the top club competition in the region. Koo, who plays for VfL Wolfsburg in Germany, topped the Asian Cup tournament in January with six goals, as South Korea finished third. Ha and Yeom are teammates on Suwon Bluewings in South Korea's K-League. Ha currently leads the Champions League with six goals. Yeom has scored four times in the same competition. Suwon is in the quarterfinals. The AFC began awarding the annual honors in 1988. Former national team star Kim Joo-sung, who won the award in 1989, 1990 and 1991, remains the only South Korean to have been honored. Last year, Australia's Sasa Ognenovski was the top AFC player while plying his trade for South Korea's Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma.