KUALA LUMPUR, Nov. 15 (Xinhua) -- Chinese national football team skipper Zheng Zhi was been nominated for the AFC Player of the Year award for the second consecutive year shortly after his Chinese giant Guangzhou Everguande won the Asian club title.
According to the nominees announced by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) on Friday, the 33-year-old midfielder will be contesting with South Korea footballer Ha Dae Sung from FC Seoul as well as Iran and Esteghlal ace Javad Nekonam.
Guangzhou Everguande's victory in the AFC Champions League final has given Zheng an edge over his two opponents, but he was held back by the poor performance by the Chinese national team.
Zheng's two teammates at Guangzhou Everguande, Luiz Guilherme Da Conceicao (Muriqui) from Brazil and Argentine playmaker Dario Leonardo Conca are leading the race of AFC Foreign Player of the Year award. The third nominee is FC Seoul's Motenegro striker Dejan Damjanovic.
Japanese international Yuto Nagatomo of Inter Milan and his national team teammate Keisuke Honda of CSKA Moscow are in the fray for the Asian International Player of the Year honour with South Korean player Son Heung-min of Bayer Leverkusen.
The awards will be presented at a grand ceremony at the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur on November 26, 2013.