UNITED ARAB EMIRATES’ playmaker Omar Abdulrahman is the favorite to become Asian Player of the Year when he was named in a shortlist of three Wednesday.

    Midfielder for the UAE national team, Al Ain player Abdulrahman has been the one to watch in the region, having already won several individual accolades. He led UAE to the third round of the FIFA World Cup Russia 2018 Asian Qualifiers and his club Al Ain to this season’s AFC Champions League final.

    Should al-Ain beat Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors to win the ACL, Abdulrahman will be even more strongly tipped for the award over China’s Wu Lei and Hammadi Ahmed of Iraq.

    Hammadi Ahmed Aldeeaa plays for Air Force Club, winners of this season’s AFC Cup, and the Iraq national team. He was both the top scorer and Most Valuable Player of the 2016 AFC Cup.

    Wu Lei is the all-time top goal-scorer for his club, Shanghai SIPG, with 114 goals.

    He also holds the record for being the youngest person to have played in a professional Chinese soccer match aged just 14 years and 287 days.

    Wu has won the Chinese Super League Golden Boot four times, most recently this year. Wu led China to the third round of the FIFA World Cup Russia 2018 Asian Qualifiers.

    (SD-Agencies)