KUALA LUMPUR, 9 December 2004 — Saudi Arabia’s Al-Ittihad were named as the AFC Club Team of the Year yesterday after capturing the Asian Champions League title earlier this month by beating Seongnam Ilhaw Chunma of Korea. They won 6-3 on aggregate.
Saeed Al-Owairan of Saudi Arabia, representing Al Ittihad, was handed the award by the Asian Football Confederation at a lavish dinner in Kuala Lumpur celebrating the AFC’s 50th anniversary.
Iran forward Ali Karimi was crowned Asian Player of the Year, edging out fellow nominees A’ala Hubail of Bahrain and Japan’s Shunsuke Nakamura. It was the fourth time a player from Iran has won the award since it was introduced by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) in 1994. “This award is the result of years of hard work,” said Karimi, who plays for United Arab Emirates club Al Ahli. “I want to dedicate this to the people of Iran.” The 26-year-old helped Iran finish third at this year’s Asian Cup and was the tournament’s joint top scorer with five goals.
Karimi has attracted interest from several European clubs and said he was anxious to make his mark overseas after scoring 27 goals for Al Ahli this year.
Adnan Hamd Majeed was named Coach of the Year after guiding war-weary Iraq to the Asian Cup quarterfinals as well as the last four of the Athens Olympics. Japan were honored as the continent’s top national team after retaining the Asian Cup. Japan’s Homare Sawa was named the top women’s player of the year.
