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| AFC Challenge Cup |
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| Individuals rising to the Challenge |
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| Indian captain Baichung Bhutia (L) is the frontrunner to win the MVP award of the AFC Challenge Cup. |
HYDERABAD – Indian skipper Baichung Bhutia, DPR Korea's Pak Song-chol and Tajikistan's Yusuf Rabiev are all in the reckoning for the Abdullah Al Dabal Most Valuable Player award at the AFC Challenge Cup.
The Abdullah Al Dabal award is presented to the player who has had a major influence on individual matches and the competition as a whole overall.
Bhutia, Pak and Rabiev lead the race for the award but the other players from the top four teams – DPR Korea, Myanmar, India and Tajikistan - still have time to make their mark on the final day.
Bhutia has led from the front for India, scoring twice in the final group match against Turkmenistan while also having a hand in the goal that salvaged a 1-1 draw with Tajikistan. He also assisted in Sunil Chhetri’s match-winner against Myanmar in the semi-final on Thursday.
The 32-year-old had started on the bench but was introduced in the 58th minute and forced goalkeeper Alisher Tuychiev into conceding an own-goal.
Pak has proved the match-winner for an impressive DPR Korea in the group stage when the midfielder scored the solitary goal against Nepal and netted a brace in his side’s 3-0 victory over Sri Lanka.
Midfielder Rabiev has been an influential force in helping Tajikistan, the defending champions, reach the summit clash.
"Rabiev has added more skills to his game since 2006. He is a more complete player now," said Tajikistan coach Pulod Kodirov.
Rabiev is level with Turkmenistan's Guvanchmuhamed Ovekov at the top of the scoring charts with four goals apiece.
Three of Rabiev's goals came against Afghanistan in his team's final group match while the other came against India.
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