{"id":9988,"date":"2017-12-31T20:00:09","date_gmt":"2017-12-31T11:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/asia\/?p=9988"},"modified":"2017-12-31T20:14:12","modified_gmt":"2017-12-31T11:14:12","slug":"football-tribe-awards-top-30-players-in-asia-part3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/asia\/2017\/12\/31\/football-tribe-awards-top-30-players-in-asia-part3\/","title":{"rendered":"Football Tribe Awards: Top 30 Players in Asia (10-1)"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Football Tribe Awards<\/strong>\u00a0with our Top 10 Players in Asia<\/strong>!<\/p>\n

Before unveiling our Top 10, take a moment to look back at #30-21<\/a> and #20-11<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Who made the cut? Click to the next slide to find out!<\/p>\n

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Kawasaki Frontale have for over a decade been known as Japan’s best second-best team, with four runners-up finishes in the J1 and another four in cup tournaments. But this year, the “silver collectors” finally won their first J.League title after a dramatic reversal on the final matchday.<\/p>\n

Veteran Kengo Nakamura handed over the captain’s armband to teammate Yu Kobayashi, but with his dribbling skills and superb situational awareness remained the glue that held the side together. His tears of joy after Frontale’s title-clinching win will forever be an iconic moment in club history.<\/p>\n

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Al Somah is by far the most-loved player in Saudi Arabia. In the 2016-17 Saudi Professional League he scored like clockwork, registering 24 goals in 24 matches. Despite injuries and surgeries this year, he has still managed 10 goals in 10 appearances during the current season, again demonstrating his finishing talent. Since joining the Syrian national team Al Somah scored against Australia and Iran, helping the team reach the final round of Asia’s World Cup qualification.<\/p>\n

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It’s not easy to become the league\u2019s top scorer under any circumstance, and to accomplish that feat despite a two-month injury is even more impressive.\u00a0 The veteran Brazilian player made it look easy by scoring 22 goals and three assists in 29 matches. Johnathan’s powerful shots regularly threatened his K League opponents, and Suwon Bluewings fans will miss his presence if he leaves during the current offseason.<\/p>\n

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This creative attacking midfielder and former Serbia international is able to create many chances throughout the match and also boasts keen finishing. Even at 32 years old Ninkovic has not lost his speed, and in eight matches so far the ex-Dynamo Kyiv star has helped Sydney FC climb to the top of the A-League table.<\/p>\n

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While he did not play the last three months of the year for Persepolis due to a FIFA-imposed suspension regarding his 2016 transfer from Turkey’s Caykur Rizespor, Taremi has been brilliant for both his club and country this year.<\/p>\n

The 25-year-old scored 18 goals in the 2016-17 season, topping the Persian Gulf Pro League’s scoring table for a second straight time. He also scored seven goals in the AFC Champions league on the way to the Reds’ first semifinal appearance in 15 years. Taremi\u2019s brilliant national team performances, which included six goals against Qatar and China, were a key factor in Iran’s easy qualification for Russia 2018.<\/p>\n

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In a league filled with stars such as Carlos Tevez, Hulk and even Oscar, it was a 30-year-old Israeli attacker who was named the Chinese Super League’s Player of the Year for 2017.<\/p>\n

Zahavi, who made his name at Hapoel Tel Aviv and Maccabi Tel Aviv, scored 27 goals, enough to win the Golden Boot and one short of tying the league record. After signing a contract extension that will see him remain at Guangzhou R&F through the 2020 season, the veteran returned the favor with four goals against derby rivals Guangzhou Evergrande.<\/p>\n

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Known for his fantastic vision on the pitch and superb passing and dribbling, the 26-year-old midfielder is considered one of the best players in his position. Abdulrahman lit up in the second half of the 2016-17 UAE Gulf League season with four goals and seven assists, with an additional seven goals and six assists in the AFC Champions League.<\/p>\n

While fans sadly won’t be able to enjoy his exploits in next year’s FIFA World Cup, rumors of an overseas transfer continue to build and it surely won’t be long until Abdulrahman is making a splash in one of Europe’s top leagues.<\/p>\n

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In his first year as Kawasaki Frontale’s captain, Kobayashi led the team to their first J1 League title with 23 goals. In doing so he became just the sixth player to win the J.League’s MVP and Golden Boot awards in the same season, a feat last accomplished in 2012 by then-Sanfrecce Hiroshima star Hisato Sato.<\/p>\n

This veteran line-breaker can play on the flanks, giving club manager Toru Oniki and national team coach Vahid Halilhodzic more tactical options. After scoring his first international goal in the EAFF E-1 Championship, it seems increasingly likely that he represent the Samurai Blue in Russia.<\/p>\n

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2017 was a very fruitful year for the player considered Korea Republic\u2019s best midfielder. Lee Jae-sung recorded eight goals and ten assists in 28 appearances, leading his team to clinch the K League Classic title for the third time in four years.<\/p>\n

The 25-year-old\u2019s versatility, creativity and high workrate shined through in the EAFF E-1 Championship, especially in the title-clinching match when Korea Republic defeated Japan 4-1 in Tokyo. The K League MVP surely has many strong seasons ahead of him.<\/p>\n

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At just 23 years old, Omar Kharbin broke down a number of barriers in an eventful 2017. After joining Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal on loan (in what would later become a full transfer) he scored 24 goals in 33 matches, helping the club to their first Saudi Professional League title since the 2010-11 season and reach the final of the 2017 AFC Champions League.<\/p>\n

Kharbin also excelled for Syria’s national team, scoring two goals against Qatar in late August to lead his country to the Asian qualifying playoff against Australia. The Damascus native may not be a familiar face to casual fans of the game, but no true fan of Asian football can dispute that the 2017 Asian Footballer of the Year earned his place at the top of our rankings.<\/p>\n

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What do you think of our selections? Who are you looking forward to seeing play in 2018? Let us know on our official\u00a0Facebook<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Twitter<\/a>\u00a0pages.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Football Tribe Awards\u00a0with our Top 10 Players in Asia! Before unveiling our Top 10, take a moment to look back at #30-21 and #20-11. Who made the cut? Click to the next slide to find out!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":90,"featured_media":10069,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[1141,1116,1143,1099,1048,586,1142,977,662,1140,95,832],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9988"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/90"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9988"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9988\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10069"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9988"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9988"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/football-tribe.com\/asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9988"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}