What a 12 months it has been for Salem Al-Dawsari. The somersaulting Saudi Arabian striker was on the back (and front) page of every newspaper in the world after his heroic efforts lead his team to a famous win over Argentina in their opening game of the Qatar 2022 World Cup – and now, a year later he is anointed as Asian Player of the Year.
The 32-year-old Al-Hilal star honored during the Asian Football Confederation’s glitzy Annual Awards ceremony in Doha on Tuesday, becoming the sixth player from the Kingdom to be crowned Asian Player of the Year.
“I am very happy with this achievement and I would like to thank the leadership in Saudi Arabia for their keen interest in athletes and support for sport,” Al-Dawsari said in a statement.
Al-Dawsari is the 25th recipient of the AFC Player of the Year award since its inception in 1994. In that time there have been six Saudi winners of the award, and five from Al-Hilal, both of which are records for a country and club respectively.
Saudi Players who have won Asian Player of the Year
Salem Al-Dawsari became the 6th Saudi to win the AFC Player of the Year Award. Here is a list of his countrymen who have previous won the coveted award:
Saeed Owairan, Al-Shabab (1994)
Nawaf Al-Temyat, Al Hilal (2000)
Hamad Al-Montashari, Al Hilal (2005)
Yasser Al-Qahtani, Al Hilal (2007)
Nasser Al-Shamrani, Al Hilal (2014)
Salem Al-Dawsari, Al Hilal (2023)