North Carolina Courage forward Cortnee Vine has been nominated for the Asian Football Confederation’s (AFC) Women’s Player of the Year award for 2023. The winner of the award will be announced on October 29 at a gala in South Korea.
The award is given annually to the top women’s player in the confederation.
Vine was exceptional for club and country in 2023, scoring the decisive penalty kick in the longest shootout in FIFA Women’s World Cup history to help the Matildas reach the final four of the tournament for the first time. At the club level, Vine led Sydney FC to a record fifth A-League Women championship with 16 total goal contributions.
The Matilda forward signed with the Courage as a free agent this summer, joining up at a crucial time in the NWSL season.
Vine is up against Japan’s Kiko Seike and Korea’s Kim Hye-ri for the award. Seike led Urawa Red Diamonds Ladies to a second consecutive league title in Japan with 20 goals and 10 assists, while Kim led Hyundai Steel red Angles to an 11th straight league title in Korea and captained the national team at the World Cup.
Vine would be the fifth Australian player to win the award, with Kate Gill, Katrina Gorry, Caitlin Foord and Sam Kerr winning the award previously. She would also be the third NWSL player to win the award and fourth player to win the award while playing for an American club. Gorry won the award in 2013 while playing for FC Kansas City and Kerr took home the honor in 2017 while with then-Sky Blue FC, while China’s Bai Jie won the award in 2003 while playing for WUSA’s Washington Freedom.
