Twenty-one (21) players populate the initial list with Bahrain and Singapore dominating in the numbers department with three players each, while Uzbekistan, Korea Republic, Australia and Asian champions Iraq have two players each.

Big names are easy to spot: Iraq’s 2007 AFC Asian Cup winner Hawar Mulla Mohamed, 2004 AFC Asian Cup joint top-scorer Ala’a Hubail, Australian custodian Mark Schwarzer, Koreans Ki-hyun Seol and Young-pyo Lee, and Japan’s Yuji Nakazawa.

Also making their presence felt, among others, with good performances are Singaporeans Aleksandar Duric, Indra Sahdan Daud and Mohammad Shahril Ishak, DPR Korea’s Yong-jo Hong, Kuwaiti Ahmed Alzemi and Ebrahim Sadeghi of Iran.

The procedure for selecting the best player in Asia has been drastically overhauled to inject more transparency in the process with the big announcement scheduled to be made at the awards gala on 25 November in Shanghai.

Past winners include Ali Daei (Iran; 1999), Shinji Ono (Japan; 2002), Ali Karimi (Iran; 2004) and of late Hamad Al Montashari (Saudi Arabia; 2005), Khalfan Ibrahim (Qatar; 2006) and Yasser Al Qahtani (Saudi Arabia; 2007).

LIST OF CONTENDERS FOR AFC PLAYER OF THE YEAR 2008

(in alphabetical order; list as of today)

1. Ala’a Hubail (Bahrain and Al Kuwait – Kuwait)

2. Ahmad Ajab (Kuwait and Al Qadsiya – Kuwait)

3. Aleksandar Duric (Singapore and Singapore Armed Forces FC – Singapore)

4. Ebrahim Sadeghi (Iran and Saipa – Iran)

5. Fabio Cesar (Qatar and Umm Salal – Qatar)

6. Hawar Mullah Mohamed (Iraq and Al Khor – Qatar)

7. Indra Sahdan Daud (Singapore and Home United – Singapore)

8. Ki-hyeon Seol (Korea Republic and Fulham – England)

9. Mark Bresciano (Australia and Palermo – Italy)

10. Mark Schwarzer (Australia and Middlesbrough – England)

11. Mohamad Alhamwi (Syria and Al Karama – Syria)

12. Mohammad Shahril Ishak (Singapore and Home United – Singapore)

13. Mosab Balhous (Syria and Al Karama – Syria)

14. Rashid Saleem (Bahrain and Al Najma – Bahrain)

15. Salih Sader (Iraq and Al Ansar – Lebanon)

16. Mohamed Salmeen (Bahrain and Al Muharraq – Bahrain)

17. Timur Kapadze (Uzbekistan and Kuruvchi – Uzbekistan)

18. Ulugbek Bakaev (Uzbekistan and Kuruvchi – Uzbekistan)

19. Yong-jo Hong (DPRK and FK Bezanija – Serbia)

20. Young-pyo Lee (Korea Republic and Tottenham Hotspur – England)

21. Yuji Nakazawa (Japan and Yokohama F Marinos – Japan)