Matildas stars Lisa de Vanna and Caitlin Foord are among the three nominees for the Asian Football Confederation women’s Player of the Year award.

Veteran striker De Vanna and attacking midfielder Foord were part of the Australian squads that won the Asian qualifying tournament for the Olympics and reached the quarter-finals at the Rio games.

The other nominee was China’s Tan Ruyin.

De Vanna, the Matildas co-captain who has over 100 international caps to her name, said it was a privilege to receive the nomination.

“When I consider how many amazing players there are in Asia I’m happy to be nominated alongside Caitlin Foord and Tan Ruyin,” said De Vanna, who left Melbourne City after securing a maiden W-League title for the club last season.

“Proud to have two Matildas in the top three.”

The versatile Foord, who became the youngest Australian to play in a World Cup at the age of 16 in 2011, is back with Sydney FC this W-League season, having left Perth Glory.

The nominees for the men’s award, which will also be presented in Abu Dhabi on 1 December, were China’s Wu Lei, Iraq’s Hammadi Ahmed Aldeeaath and Omar Abdulrahman of the United Arab Emirates.