[GLOBAL ECONOMIC TIMES]  Son Heung-min (32, Tottenham Hotspur) received the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) International Player of the Year award for the fourth time in his career.

Son Heung-min was named the winner of the ‘Male International Player of the Year’ award at the ‘AFC Annual Awards Seoul 2023’ held at the Hall of Peace at Kyunghee University in Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul on October 29.

The AFC International Player of the Year Award is given to the player who has performed the best among AFC member countries playing overseas. Son Heung-min became the fourth person to receive this award, starting with his first award in 2015 and following 2017 and 2019.

Korea has produced a winner in this category for two consecutive years, following Minjae Kim last year.

AFC recognized Son Heung-min's performance as captain of Tottenham in the 2023-24 season and scoring 17 goals and 10 assists in the English Premier League (EPL). AFC also highlighted Son Heung-min's performance in the 2023 Qatar Asian Cup and the 2026 North and Central America World Cup Asian qualifiers.

Seol Young-woo, who was nominated for Male Athlete of the Year, was not awarded the award. The Male Athlete of the Year went to Akram Afif, who led Qatar to two consecutive Asian Cup wins.

The Male Youth Player of the Year, for which Bae Jun-ho was nominated, was Uzbekistan's Avosbek Faizulaev.

The Male Coach of the Year award went to Japan U-23 national team coach Go Oiwa.