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Indian football team's captain Sunil Chhetri has been nominated for the Best Footballer in Asia 2019 award, the Asia-specific equivalent of The Ballon d'Or. The 35-year-old finds himself nominated for the prestigious award for the third consecutive time after finishing in the 25th and 21st spot in 2017 and 2018 respectively.
Titan Sports, the most-read newspaper in China, gives away the award annually wherein foreigners playing for Asian clubs and Asians playing their club football elsewhere are eligible to contest.
ALSO READ: India's Sunil Chhetri ranked above Andres Iniesta, Paulinho in the Best Footballer in Asia 2018 list
Just like Ballon d'Or, the winner is decided by voting by a panel of reputed journalists. Representatives from AFC affiliated nations and experts in the field of Asian football from diverse news organizations like Gazzetta dello Sport, Reuters, South China Morning Post, and AFP among others constitute the jury.
The jurors list out top five names in descending order of their preference and the player who accumulates the most points is declared the winner.
Super Son leads pack
Son Heung-Min has won the award in its last two editions. Apart from the South Korean sensation, Sunil Chhetri faces tough competition from the likes of Takumi Minamino, Paulinho, Baghdad Bounedjah, and Almoez Ali.
In 2019, Sunil Chhetri has played 11 international matches for India, scoring 6 goals and bagging 1 assist. He also overtook German legend Gerd Muller and Robbie Keane this year in goalscoring tally in international matches.
Sunil Chhetri's club form for Bengaluru FC has been amazing, too, this year. In the 18 matches he has played so far combining the ISL league stages, playoffs, and the Super Cup, he has accumulated 10 goals and 3 assists for his team.
