TEHRANTIMES - Al Ahli and UAE striker Ahmed Khalil, who has been nominated for the2015 AFC Player of the Year award, revealed his childhood dream.

“I hope I win this year’s award but both of my rivals, Omar Abdulrahman and Zheng Zhi are fantastic players. If I win it I will be the second Al Ahli player who has won this award because Ali Karimi has won it in 2004 when he was playing for the team,” Khalil told reporters in a press conference.

“Ali Karimi was my role model and I always had a dream to play alongside him but unfortunately because of our age difference this has never happened,” he added.

AFC Young Player of the Year and AFC U-19 Championship MVP in 2008, Ahmed Khalil has helped UAE club Al Ahli reach the final of this year’s AFC Champions League where they had beaten by Chinese champions Guangzhou Evergrande in the final.

He was instrumental in the UAE's clinching third place at the AFC Asian Cup 2015. The 24-year-old forward is also currently the second leading goalscorer (10 goals) in the ongoing FIFA World Cup 2018/AFC Asian Cup 2019 Joint Preliminary Round 2 qualifiers.