Son Heung-min has once again been recognised as the best Asian player over the last 12 months, claiming a seventh successive title against a much improved pack of competitors.
The South Korea and Tottenham captain has won the Best Footballer in Asia award for 2023, having starred with 27 goals for club and country in the past 12 months.
Son is currently away on international duty with his country at the Asia Cup, with South Korea beating Bahrain 3-1 in their opening game, with clashes against Jordan and Malaysia to come.
However the Tottenham forward has already made a great start to 2024 by picking up the individual honour, beating off the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, despite the latter's blockbuster move to the Saudi Pro League.
The Best Footballer in Asia award is available to any player that either represents a nation affiliated with the AFC, or who plays for a team based under the AFC's jurisdiction.
Therefore, the likes of Ronaldo, Sadio Mane, Sergei Milinkovic-Savic, Karim Benzema and N'Golo Kante were also up for the gong, having made the move to the Saudi Pro League in recent transfer windows.
'Our captain,' Tottenham wrote on X, formerly Twitter, to announce the news of Son's latest win in the category.
'Congratulations to Son Hung-min on winning the Best Footballer in Asia award for the seventh year in a row!'
While it would perhaps be a surprise for a player that has only spent five months or so in the AFC to win the award, you might expect Ronaldo to run Son close for the honour.
However, the Portuguese legend - five times the winner of football's greatest individual gong the Ballon d'Or - was not even close to pipping Son.
The South Korea skipper topped the ballot, claiming a seventh honour in a row with 22.9
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