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South Korean forward Heung-Min Son has beaten Al Nassr superstar Cristiano Ronaldo to the award for the Best Footballer in Asia for 2023. The Tottenham Hotspur star won the award for a seventh straight year after an excellent season for club and country.
The Best Footballer in Asia award is presented by Titan Sports to the best footballer playing for either an Asian club or country. The first edition of the award was in 2013, and Son has won it nine times, with the last seven coming in consecutive years.
Cristiano Ronaldo moved from Manchester United to Al Nassr in the Saudi Pro League in January 2023 and enjoyed a hugely successful year. The 38-year-old managed to score 53 goals for club and country in 2023 to finish the year as the top scorer.
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However, the achievements of the Portuguese great in the Saudi League were not enough to see him dethrone Heung-Min Son. He finished in third place in the voting for the Best Footballer in Asia, polling 17.06% of the votes.
Bayern Munich defender Kim Min-Jae also finished ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo, as he polled 19.54% of votes. Son took 22.9% of the votes to emerge as the winner of the award for a ninth year.
Son and Kim are in Qatar with the South Korean team for the AFC Asian Cup. They started the group stage with a comfortable win over Bahrain and are among the favorites for the title.
Heung-Min Son has won every edition of the award except the inaugural edition, which was won by Keisuke Honda in 2013. Shinji Okazaki also beat him to the award in 2016 following his exploits with Leicester City.
Cristiano Ronaldo shining in Saudi despite advancing age
At 38 years old, individual awards are surely not the most important thing for Cristiano Ronaldo now, even if getting recognized feels great. The Portuguese superstar has seen and won it all in his career, with five Ballon d'Or awards to his name.
This season, Cristiano Ronaldo sits atop the goalscoring charts in the Saudi Pro League with 20 goals and nine assists in 18 appearances. In his debut campaign in the AFC Champions League, he scored three goals and provided two assists in the first half of the season.
Al Nassr are in second place in the Saudi League, mostly thanks to the efforts of the Portuguese star. They are also through to the knockout stages of the AFC Champions League after a blistering group-stage campaign.
