Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Saitama: Omar Khribin has won the 2017 AFC Champions League top scorer award after the Syrian’s 10 goals saw him finish one ahead of Urawa Red Diamonds’ Rafael Silva and Shanghai SIPG’s Hulk.
Khribin scored in the first leg of the final against Urawa in Riyadh last Saturday as Al Hilal drew 1-1 with the Japanese side, although injury forced the striker off after an hour of the return fixture and the Saudi giants ultimately lost 2-1 on aggregate.
But the disappointment of defeat in the final takes nothing away from Khribin’s performances throughout the competition as the forward helped fire his side to a second final in four years and in doing so, became one of the most talked about players on the continent.
Khribin scored his first goal of the 2017 AFC Champions League in Al Hilal’s 2-2 Matchday Three draw with the United Arab Emirates’ Al Wahda, before he added a brace, including a late winner, in a 4-3 victory over Qatar’s Al Rayyan as the Riyadh side topped the group.
It was in the knockout rounds, though, that Khribin really started to grab the headlines as he again scored a match-winning strike in the 2-1 win over Esteghlal Khouzestan in the second leg of the Round of 16 as Al Hilal won 4-3 on aggregate.
www.the-afc.com/en/more/photo/omar-khribin_al-hilal_acl_ls_jpg_3.html
