Son Heung-min named Best Footballer in Asia for 2023

Moving the news: Tottenham Hotspur announced the recognition on Tuesday, congratulating its captain for winning the Asian Football Confederation’s (AFC) annual award for the seventh year in a row. Aside from the remarkable victory streak, the 31-year-old South Korean forward also won the award in 2014 and 2015 and finished third in 2016.

This year, Son received 22.9% of the total votes, while his compatriot Kim, who plays for Bayern Munich, finished second with 19.54%. Al Nassr’s Ronaldo finished third with 17.06%.

About the title: While the accolade is titled Best Footballer in Asia, non-Asian players can be included in the list as long as they are playing for a country or a team under the AFC’s jurisdiction. Ronaldo, for one, is Portuguese but plays in the Saudi Pro League under the AFC confederation.

What’s next: Son is currently captaining the national team of his home country South Korea at the 2023 Asian Cup. He led his team’s opener win 3-1 against Bahrain on Monday. South Korea will face Jordan on Saturday, followed by Malaysia on Jan. 25.