KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian footballer Faisal Halim has beaten big names like Son Heung Min to the Asian Cup Goal of the Tournament award.
The 26-year-old winger's mesmerising goal against South Korea in an Asian Cup match last month in Qatar, won him the most votes in a fans poll by the Asian Football Confederation. He was announced as the winner today.
Faisal's goal became the talk of the town when he twisted and turned his way past Bayern Munich centreback Kim Min Jae before beating Korean goalkeeper Jo Hyeon Woo with a swerving shot.
Faisal collected 85 per cent of the votes, far ahead of second-placed Mousa Al Tamari of Jordan (nine per cent). Tottenham Hotspur striker Heung Min was third with three per cent. Iran's Sardar Azmoun and Thailand's Supachok Sarachat got one per cent each.
Though Japan's Keito Nakamura, Qatar's Hassan Al Haydos and Saudi Arabia's Abdulrahman Ghareeb were also nominated, their percentage of the votes were listed as zero.
The Selangor star has said that he was surprised by the overwhelming votes for his goal.
"I was excited and shocked to hear of this earlier as our team (Malaysia) are ranked far lower than the others listed.
"This is a big stage, this (Asian award) will motivate me for the start of the new M-League season," he said.