Abu Dhabi: Omar Abdulrahman, arguably Asia’s biggest star, was crowned AFC player of the year in a glittering ceremony in his home country of UAE yesterday.
The left-sided midfielder and winger is the second Emirati to win the trophy in consecutive years and his award was greeted with a huge cheer in the Emirates Palace Hotel in Abu Dhabi.
The victory was even sweeter as he was nominated last year but lost out to compatriot, Ahmed Khalil.
He beat Wu Lei of China and Iraq’s Hammadi Ahmed to claim the night’s most coveted prize.
Ahmed was aiming to be the first winner from Iraq.
The women’s award was won by Australia’s Caitlin Ford, a former AFC young player of the year. She is the first woman to win both awards.