TEHRAN – Iranian striker Mehdi Taremi has become the most-nominated AFC International Player of the Week this year.
Over the last 12 months, the-AFC.com has published a total of 35 AFC International Player of the Week polls, with the top 10 Asian performers plying their trade outside the continent over the previous seven days highlighted, and fans from around the world casting their weekly votes.
In total, 115 players from 17 AFC nations were featured at least once in the weekly list, shining on a light of Asian footballers – male and female – based everywhere from Europe’s biggest leagues to competitions in Africa and North America.
As 2021 draws to a close, the-afc.com has crunched the numbers in order to highlight the players who were among Asia’s weekly top 10 more often than anyone else, and whose exemplary consistency deserves recognition.
The player who appeared the most consistently in the polls this year was FC Porto’s Iranian forward Taremi, who was among Asia’s top 10 performers a staggering 20 times throughout the year.
Taremi began 2021 in blistering touch, scoring six times in January, and earning nominations for seven weeks in a row from January 9 to February 24, helping him feature our weekly list no less than 13 times before the end of May.
His 27 goals in the calendar year included strikes against Juventus, Liverpool and Chelsea, the latter being voted the UEFA Champions League Goal of the Season, and the 29-year-old now sits comfortably among Asia’s very finest players.
In 2022, Taremi can likely look forward to a FIFA World Cup, which may yet be the crowning moment of what has become a superb career.
Iranian forwards Allahyar Sayyadmanesh and Sardar Azmoun and are also in the 10-player list with 11 and nine times, respectively.