Kim Min-jae wins AFC International Player Award… Second Korean player after Son Heung-min
The male and female athletes of the year are Dausari of Saudi Arabia and Kerr of Australia.
Asia’s best defender Kim Min-jae (26, Bayern Munich) received the ‘International Player of the Year’ award for the first time at the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) annual awards ceremony. 온라인카지노사이트
Kim Min-jae
Kim Min-jae was announced as the International Player of the Year Award at the 2022 AFC Annual Awards Ceremony
held at the Qatar National Convention Center in Doha, Qatar on the 1st (Korean time).
The International Player of the Year award is given to players from AFC member countries
who leave their home leagues and play overseas and have shown outstanding skills,
Kim Min-jae is the second Korean player to receive this award.
Until now, only Son Heung-min (Tottenham) had won the award three times (2015, 2017, and 2019).
Kim Min-jae played a big role in Turkye Fenerbahce before moving to Naples, Italy in the 2022-2023 season,
playing a key role in helping the team win the Serie A title for the first time in 33 years
advance to the quarterfinals of the UEFA Champions League for the first time in history.
European Soccer
Afterwards, he wore the uniform of Bayern Munich,
which is considered the most prestigious club not only in Germany but also in European soccer,
immediately established himself as the starting center back.
As for the national team, he contributed greatly to Korea’s advancement
to the round of 16 at the 2022 Qatar World Cup, and won the international player award,
beating other candidates Kaoru Mitoma (Japan, Brighton) and Mehdi Taremi (Iran, Porto).
Kim Min-jae was the first Asian defender to be nominated for the Ballon d’Or,
world soccer’s most prestigious award ceremony held the previous day, and ranked 22nd in the voting.
The 22nd place is tied for 2nd place among Asian players, following Son Heung-min’s 11th place last year.
Meanwhile, Korea did not produce any winners in other categories of the AFC Awards ceremony on this day.
World Cup
Saudi Arabia’s Salem Dausari (Al Hilal) was selected as the male player of the year,
and Australia’s Sam Kerr (Chelsea) was selected as the female player.
Dausari, who scored the winning goal when Saudi Arabia defeated Argentina in the group stage of the Qatar World Cup,
contributed to his team Al Hilal winning the league in the 2021-2022 season and advancing to the 2022 FIFA Club World Cup and AFC Champions League finals.
Kerr led Chelsea to victory in the England Women’s Super League and Women’s FA Cup in the 2022-2023 season, and at this summer’s Women’s World Cup,
she became the highest scorer in the Australian international match and currently has a total of 68 goals.