ကိုကြီးဇော် ( မုန်တိုင်း )

Malaysian PM HE Dato Seri Najib Tun Razak handing over the AFC Player of the Year trophy to Australia's Sasa Ognenovski as AFC President Mohamed Bin Hammam looks on.

Kuala Lumpur: Sasa Ognenovksi’s glee on winning the most coveted award in Asian football was tempered on a day his team Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma lost in the K-League play-off to Jeonbuk Motors and frittered the last chance they had of playing in next year’s AFC Champions League.

It was Ognenovksi’s standout performance in the AFC Champions League 2010, where he was named MVP for the tournament, that saw him win the AFC Player of the Year award.

“It is definitely not a great day for the team,” lamented Ognenovksi, 31. “We have failed to qualify for the AFC Champions League. Now we have to try and play well next year (in the K-League).”

The Aussie won the title ahead of fellow nominees Husain Salman Maki, of Bahrain, Iranians Farhad Majidi and Farshid Talebi and Bader Al Motawaa, of Kuwait. The award was presented to him by Malaysian Prime Minister HE Dato Seri Najib Tun Razak, who himself was conferred minutes earlier with the prestigious AFC Diamond of Asia award.

The race for the title was too close to call points-wise but Ognenovski shaded it because of his performances with ACL-winning Seongnam.

When asked if the win would help him cement a place in the national team, Sasa said: “I really hope so. I had a brief chat with Holger Osieck (Australia head coach) who is attending the awards. Now that he has seen me win the award maybe I am guaranteed to play…pretty much!”

The Seongnam skipper said that the upcoming FIFA Club World Cup would be his main focus.

Al Mutawa missed out on the honour in 2006 by finishing second to Qatar’s Khalfan Ibrahim. He started his career as a youth player with Al Qadsia and joined the senior team in 2003.

The 25-year-old played a key role in Al Qadsia’s progress to the semi-final of the 2006 AFC Champions League and this year when they finished runners-up in the AFC Cup this year.

Majidi, of Esteghlal, is one of the best known faces of Iran football. His side failed to cross the last 16 hurdle in the 2010 AFC Champions League but Majidi stood out with his performance.

Talebi, of ACL runners-up Zob Ahan, was rock solid in defence as his club defied the odds and made it to the summit clash where they lost to Korea’s Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma 3-1.

Al Riffa player Salman’s brilliant efforts saw his team reach the semi-finals of the 2010 AFC Cup before going down to Al Qadsia. He was named Most Valuable Player of the tournament.

The 27-year-old midfielder scored twice as Al Riffa won 5-3 at Da Nang in Vietnam in the second leg of the quarter-finals. He was also on target in a 4-1 defeat to Al Rayyan and in their 3-1 victory over South China during the group stage.