If this is the case, which seems to be so, the AFC got it right! Congragulations Ali Karimi, hopefully this attention would attract an exciting european club and they sign him.
Past winners: 1988 Ahmed Radhi (Iraq) 1989 Kim Joo-Sung (South Korea) 1990 Kim Joo-Sung (South Korea) 1991 Kim Joo-Sung (South Korea) 1992 [No award] 1993 Kazuyoshi Miura (Japan) 1994 Saeed Al-Owairan (Saudi Arabia) 1995 Masami Ihara (Japan) 1996 Khodadad Azizi (Iran) 1997 Hidetoshi Nakata (Japan) 1998 Hidetoshi Nakata (Japan) 1999 Ali Daei (Iran) 2000 Nawaf Al-Temyat (Saudi Arabia) 2001 Fan Zhiyi (China) 2002 Shinji Ono (Japan) 2003 Mehdi Mahdavikia (Iran)
well i hope so. he deserve it. since ali karimi been in a fight with a referee, i thought they are not going to pick him. at lest because of that. but seems like everything is going fine. Congratulation Ali
Yes! It was in 1998 and he got suspended for 1 year and couldn't go to the 1998 world cup with Iran. Since then he's so calm that he has not even received a yellow card in ages!
Al-Ahly had a party last night to honor of Ali Karimi for winning the award: I think the news is true
Tehran, Dec 7, IRNA -- Gifted striker of Iran`s football squad, Ali Karimi, was elected as AFC Player of the Year 2004, a Football Federation official said on condition of anonymity Monday. Bahrain forward A`ala Hubail and Japan playmaker Shunsuke Nakamura are the two other nominees for this year`s award. Although the outcome will be officially announced at the Palace of Golden Horses hotel in Kuala Lumpur, capital of Malaysia, on Dec 8, the news was leaked Monday. Karimi, Hubail, and Nakamura are up for the AFC`s most prestigious individual award following the trio`s impressive displays at the 2004 Asian Cup in China. Karimi and Hubail were the tournament`s joint top scorers with five goals each while Nakamura won the MVP of the Tournament award after helping Japan to lift its third Asian Cup title. All three helped their countries to reach the final round of the Asian qualifiers for the 2006 World Cup, having also good seasons in their clubs. The 26-year-old Karimi inspired Al Ahly to victory in the UAE President`s Cup final. Hubail, 22, has been scoring goals on a regular basis since joining Qatar league side Al Gharafa after the Asian Cup. Nakamura, 26, remains a firm crowd favorite at Italian Serie A side Reggina. Karimi succeeds his compatriot Mehdi Mahdavikia, 2003 AFC Player of the Year, who plays for the German Bundesliga team Hamburg. There will be 10 other prizes presented on Dec 8 including awards for Team of the Year, Coach of the Year, and Youth Player of the Year.