Son Heung-min wins the Best Asian Footballer award

South Korean star

has been named the best football player of Asia for the fifth time in a row and the seventh time overall, and the impressive point is that the prize has been there for only nine years.

The high-profile forward scored 17 goals for the Spurs in all competitions in 2021 and has played a big part for them when

was sidelined and on the verge of the departure. The 29-year-old had even a bigger part in his national team’s success scoring four goals in eight matches and helping them make an unbeaten start after six games of the third and final round of Asian qualifiers for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

The Best Footballer in Asia award is Asia’s equivalent for the Ballon d'Or, and experts from 37 of the Asian Football Confederation's 47 member associations and an additional 13 guest judges are the people who vote for their favorite players of the calendar year, giving them six, four, three, two and one points respectively.

Here is the Best Footballer in Asia 2021 ranking:

1. Son Heung-min (South Korea) -- Tottenham: 242 points

2. Sardar Azmoun (Iran) -- Zenit: 111 points

3. Mehdi Taremi (Iran) -- Porto: 90 points

4. Salem Al-Dawsari (Saudi Arabia) -- Al Hilal: 74 points

5. Takehiro Tomiyasu (Japan) -- Bologna/Arsenal: 50 points

6. Kyogo Furuhashi (Japan) -- Vissel Kobe/Celtic: 36 points

7. Akram Afif (Qatar) -- Al Sadd: 23 points

8. Salman Al-Faraj (Saudi Arabia) -- Al Hilal: 19 points

9. Hwang Hee-chan (South Korea) -- RB Leipzig/Wolves: 19 points

10. Eldor Shomurodov (Uzbekistan) -- Genoa/Roma: 18 points

11. Takefusa Kubo (Japan) -- Villarreal/Getafe/Mallorca: 16 points

12. Leandro Damiao (Brazil) -- Kawasaki Frontale: 13 points

13. Bafetimbi Gomis (France) -- Al Hilal: 13 points

14. Michael Olunga (Kenya) -- Al Duhail: 12 points

15. Wataru Endo (Japan) -- Stuttgart: 11 points

16. Almoez Ali (Qatar) -- Al Duhail: 10 points

17. Ali Mabkhout (United Arab Emirates) -- Al Jazira: 9 points

18. Alireza Jahanbakhsh (Iran) -- Brighton/Feyenoord: 5 points

19. Takumi Minamino (Japan) -- Liverpool: 4 points

20. Martin Boyle (Australia) -- Hibernian: 3 points

20. Andres Iniesta (Spain) -- Vissel Kobe: 3 points

22. Igor Coronado (Brazil) -- Sharjah/Al Ittihad: 2 points

22. Junya Ito (Japan) -- Genk: 2 points

22. Amir Abedzadeh (Iran) -- Maritimo/Ponferradina: 2 points

22. Jang Hyun-soo (South Korea) -- Al Hilal: 2 points

22. Oscar (Brazil) -- Shanghai Port: 2 points

27. Nguyen Tien Linh (Vietnam) -- Becamex Binh Duong: 2 points

28. Theerathon Bunmathan (Thailand) -- Yokohama F. Marinos: 1 point

28. Hwang In-beom (South Korea) -- Rubin Kazan: 1 point

28. Sunil Chhetri (India) -- Bengaluru: 1 point

28. Dejan Damjanovic (Montenegro) -- Kitchee: 1 point

28. Jaloliddin Masharipov (Uzbekistan) -- Al Nassr/Shabab Al Ahli: 1 point

28. Chanathip Songkrasin (Thailand) -- Consadole Sapporo: 1 point

28. Wu Lei (China) -- Espanyol: 1 point

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