Emirati Ahmed Khalil got a modicum of revenge on Guangzhou Evergrande captain Zheng Zhi when he pipped the Chinese to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Player of the Year award on Sunday.
Khalil's Al Ahli club finished runners-up in the AFC Champions League as Zheng guided Guangzhou to their second continental title in three years.
But the 24-year-old Khalil won the individual battle in a glittering ceremony on the outskirts of the Indian capital, denying 2013 winner Zheng a second AFC Player of the Year award and also beating compatriot Omar Abdulrahman to emerge as the continent's top player.
"I cannot explain my feeling," Khalil told reporters.
"It means a lot to me. It's not for me only, it's for all the people of the Emirates."
Khalil became only the third player to have won both the senior and youth individual accolades and the forward said he would like to play in Europe at some point.
"I have goals that I have set for the future and I will try my best to achieve them. I have ambitions to play in Europe but presently I have a contract with my current club."
Guangzhou won the AFC Club of the Year award, while their Brazilian recruit and AFC Champions League top scorer Ricardo Goulart won the AFC Foreign Player of the Year award.
Asian Cup champions Australia won the men's team of the year award, while Japan claimed the women's team honour. Ange Postecoglou won the top coach's honour for masterminding Australia's home triumph.
"What a year it has been -- with the (viewership) record broken on the opening days of January in Australia, right up to the last few days in Guangzhou," said AFC president Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa, who has entered the FIFA presidency race.
"For a long time, people talked of the future being Asia and they are now convinced that the present is Asia. I'm certain that we stand on the very brink of greatness in this continent -- the dawning of an Asian age."
The AFC President also spoke about India's huge potential in the sport.
"India's potential in the sport is extremely high. India is hosting the AFC Under-16 Championships next year and then the FIFA Under-17 World Cup in 2017. It can play a big role in the sport," he said.
All India Football Federation (AIFF) President Praful Patel sought to showcase the country's potential in the sport by bringing out the popularity of Indian Super League (ISL) at the glittering AFC Awards night.
Patel said India could be on the verge of making a big stride in the sport, with some top flight international competitions coming up in the near future.
"We are hosting the FIFA Under-17 World Cup in 2017 and then the Indian Super League in its inaugural year last season instantly became the fourth most watched tournament in the world with a viewership of 275 million. You can well imagine the possibility of the development of the game in this country. We want to give a big push forward," he said in front of the who's who of Asian football.
"We are one-sixth of the humanity and we hope we can make a difference. We are far from realising our dream. We are still a sleeping giant but in the recent times, we have taken some baby steps and in the near future we hope these to become giant steps," Patel said.
