Pakhtakor’s Odil Ahmedov (in white) during the AFC Champions League match against Al Gharrafa in Doha. AFP

KUALA LUMPUR: Three new faces figure in the latest list of AFC Player of the Year contenders released after last week’s 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifiers (June 14).

A two-goal match winning performance for DPR Korea against Jordan fetched Hong Yong-jo a place in the sixth list and he has been joined by Ismael Matar, UAE’s two-goal hero against Kuwait, and Uzbekistan’s Odil Ahmedov who doubled up in their win against Lebanon.

Saudi Arabia’s Yasser Al Qahtani, the reigning AFC Player of the Year, stays in the list alongwith Mark Schwarzer of Australia and Yuji Nakazawa of Japan.

The winner will be announced on November 25 in Shanghai at an awards gala.

SIXTH LIST OF CONTENDERS FOR AFC PLAYER OF THE YEAR 2008
(in alphabetical order; revised list as of June 17, 2008)

1. Ahmad Ajab (Kuwait and Al Qadsia – Kuwait)
2. Ala’a Hubail (Bahrain and Kuwait SC – Kuwait)
3. Ali Al Habsi (Oman and Bolton Wanderers – England)
4. Ebrahim Sadeghi (Iran and Saipa – Iran)
5. Hong Yong-jo (DPR Korea and FK Bezanija – Serbia)
6. Ismael Matar (UAE and Al Wahda – UAE)
7. Odil Ahmedov (Uzbekistan and Pakhtakor – Uzbekistan)
8. Mark Schwarzer (Australia and Fulham – England)
9. Rashid Saleem (Bahrain and Al Najma – Bahrain)
10. Server Djeparov (Uzbekistan and Kuruvchi – Uzbekistan)
11. Yasser Al Qahtani (Saudi Arabia and Al Hilal – Saudi Arabia)
12. Yuji Nakazawa (Japan and Yokohama F Marinos – Japan)