The Japanese player of Barca B is in the running for the AFC award alongside Lee Kang-in and Doan Van Hau.
Asian Football Confederation (AFC), the top governing body of Asian football, released the list of nominations to the Youth Players of the Year award in which Hiroki Abe appears. The attacking midfielder of Barcelona B is competing alongside Lee Kang-in (South Korea & Valencia) and Doan Van Hau (Vietnam & Heerenveen).
The Japanese attacker, who debuted with the first team last Wednesday in a friendly at Cartagena, was one of the sensations of the Japanese League during the first part of 2019 season and in summer came to play the Copa America with the senior national team of Japan. Abe is now called to be one of the top starlets in Japan alongside Takefusa Kubo, who has not been included in the nomination, at the upcoming Olympic Games in Tokyo.
The final winner of the Youth Players of the Year award will be presented on December 12 at the AFC Annual Awards held in Hong Kong.