Dodd still in line for AFC's top honour
26/10/2007 8:51 PM
Adelaide United's Travis Dodd remains in the running for the AFC Player of the Year award 2007 after nominations were whittled down to 15.
Dodd's performances for the Reds in the Asian Champions League earned him an initial nomination in the group of 33 announced in September and he is now in the final 15, confirmed one month before the award will be presented at the AFC Annual Awards ceremony on November 28 at the Hordern Pavilion in Sydney.
To be nominated, a player has to have earned a minimum of 40 points from matches played in this year's AFC or FIFA competitions, which for Asian teams comprise of the AFC Asian Cup and Champions League along with various Olympic qualifiers.
Dodd sits among the some of the biggest names in Asian football, included Iraq's AFC Asian Cup 2007 winning captain Younis Mahmoud, Saudi Arabian striker Yasser Al Qahtani, Japan's Yasuhito Endo and Korea Republic goalkeeper Lee Won Jae.
The list also includes Japanese pair Kengo Nakamura and Shinji Ono, Iran's Javad Nekounam, Iraq's Nashat Akram and Kuwait's Bader Al Mutawa, who finished second in last year's awards.
Nominees:
1. AKRAM Nashat (Iraq), 2. AL JENAIBI Abdul (UAE), 3. AL MUTAWA Bader (Kuwait), 4. AL NOOBI Bait (Oman), 5. AL QAHTANI Yasser (Saudi Arabia), 6. DODD Travis (Australia), 7. ENDO Yasuhito (Japan), 8. HAYDAROV Azizbek (Uzbekistan), 9. LEE Won Jae (Korea Republic), 10. MAHMOUD Younis (Iraq), 11. MEHDI Salehi Mohamad (Iran), 12. NAKAMURA Kengo (Japan), 13. NEKOUNAM Javad (Iran), 14. ONO Shinji (Japan), 15. WINOTHAI Teeratep (Thailand)