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Player of year nominees revealed
Bahrain striker A'ala Hubail, Iran forward Ali Karimi and Japan playmaker Shunsuke Nakamura have been announced as the nominees for this year's AFC Player of the Year award, soccer's Asian governing body said on its website. The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) revealed Monday the nominations for its 2004 annual awards, which will be presented at the Palace of the Golden Horses hotel in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday, December 8. Hubail, Karimi and Nakamura are up for the AFC's most prestigious individual award following their impressive displays at the Asian Cup 2004 in China, which earned all three spots on the JCB Asian Cup All-Star team. Hubail and Karimi were the tournament's joint-top scorers with five goals each while Nakamura won the Emirates MVP of the Tournament award after helping Japan to lift their third Asian Cuptitle. All three also helped their countries to reach the final round of the Asian qualifiers for the 2006 World Cup as well as having good seasons for their clubs. Hubail, 22, has been scoring goals on a regular basis since joining Qatar league side Al Gharafa after the Asian Cup, 26-year-old Karimi inspired Al Ahli to victory in the UAE President's Cup final, and Nakamura, 26, remains a firm crowd favourite at Italian Serie A side Reggina. The winner of the award will succeed 2003 AFC Player of the Year Mehdi Mahdavikia of Iran and German Bundesliga side Hamburg. There will be 10 other prizes presented on December 8 includingawards for Team of the Year, Coach of the Year and Youth Player ofthe Year. In the National Team of the Year award category, Asian Cup champions Japan will vie with Bahrain, who defied the odds to reach the semi-finals in only their second Asian Cup appearance, and Olympic semi-finalists Iraq. Iraq's remarkable Olympic performance has also earned Adnan Hamd a nomination in the Coach of the Year category with Turkmenistan national coach Rahim Kurbanmamedov and Pakhtakor's Tachmurod Agamurodov. South Korea striker Park Chu-young, the top scorer and most valuable player at the AFC Youth Championship 2004, is up for the Youth Player of the Year award with Qatar's Yusef Ahmad Ali and China's Wang Dalei.
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