Asian Player of the Year


Officially awarded since 1994. The official name is Asian Football Confederation's Sanyo Player of the Year Award. Prior to 1994 it was awarded on an unofficial basis. The winners from 1988 to 1991 were chosen by IFFHS.

NB: Premier Publications organised a poll in 1984 to mark the first edition of their Asia-Oceania Soccer Handbook.


List of winners

1988    Ahmed RADHI (Iraq)
1989    KIM Joo-Sung (South Korea)
1990    KIM Joo-Sung (South Korea)
1991    KIM Joo-Sung (South Korea)
1992    [No award]
1993    Kazuyoshi MIURA (Japan)
1994    Saeed AL-OWAIRAN (Saudi Arabia)
1995    Masami IHARA (Japan)
1996    Khodadad AZIZI (Iran)
1997    Hidetoshi NAKATA (Japan)
1998    Hidetoshi NAKATA (Japan)
1999    Ali DAEI (Iran)
2000    Nawaf AL-TEMYAT (Saudi Arabia)
2001    FAN Zhiyi (China)
2002    Shinji ONO (Japan)
2003    Mehdi MAHDAVIKIA (Iran)
2004    Ali KARIMI (Iran)
2005    Hamad AL-MONTASHARI (Saudi Arabia)
2006    Khalfan IBRAHIM (Qatar)
2007    Yasser AL-QAHTANI (Saudi Arabia)
2008    Server DJEPAROV (Uzbekistan)
2009    Yasuhito ENDO (Japan)
2010    Saša OGNENOVSKI (Australia)
2011    Server DJEPAROV (Uzbekistan)
2012    Lee KEUN-HO (South Korea)
2013    Zheng ZHI (China)
2014    Nasser AL-SHAMRANI (Saudi Arabia)
2015    Ahmed KHALIL (United Arab Emirates)
2016    Omar ABDULRAHMAN (United Arab Emirates)
2017    Omar KHARBIN (Syria)
2018    Abdelkarim HASSAN (Qatar)
2019    Akram Hassan AFIF (Qatar)
2020    SON Heung-min (South Korea)
2021    SON Heung-min (South Korea)
2022    SON Heung-min (South Korea)

Wins by player


 3 KIM Joo-Sung (South Korea)
   SON Heung-min (South Korea)

 2 Server DJEPAROV (Uzbekistan)
   Hidetoshi NAKATA (Japan)
   
 1 Omar ABDULRAHMAN (United Arab Emirates)
   Akram Hassan AFIF (Qatar)
   Khodadad AZIZI (Iran)
   Ali DAEI (Iran)
   Yasuhito ENDO (Japan)
   FAN Zhiyi (China)
   Abdelkarim HASSAN (Qatar)
   Khalfan IBRAHIM (Qatar)
   Masami IHARA (Japan) 
   Ali KARIMI (Iran)
   Lee KEUN-HO (South Korea)
   Ahmed KHALIL (United Arab Emirates)
   Omar KHARBIN
   Mehdi MAHDAVIKIA (Iran)
   Hamad AL-MONTASHARI (Saudi Arabia)
   Kazuyoshi MIURA (Japan)
   Saša OGNENOVSKI (Australia)
   Shinji ONO (Japan)
   Saeed AL-OWAIRAN  (Saudi Arabia)
   Yasser AL-QAHTANI (Saudi Arabia)
   Ahmed RADHI (Iraq)
   Nasser AL-SHAMRANI (Saudi Arabia)
   Nawaf AL-TEMYAT (Saudi Arabia)
   Zheng ZHI (China)


Wins by country


 7 South Korea
 6 Japan
 5 Saudi Arabia
 4 Iran
 3 Qatar
 2 China, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan
 1 Australia, Iraq, Syria


Yearwise Data


1988
Top 3

 1. Ahmed RADHI                26 pts       Iraq
 2. Joo-Sung KIM               16  "        South Korea
 3. MAJED Abdullah             14  "        Saudi Arabia        

1989
Top 3
 
 1. Joo-Sung KIM               38 pts       South Korea
 2. MAJED Abdullah             12  "        Saudi Arabia        
 3. Ahmed RADHI                 6  "        Iraq

1990
Top 6
 
 1. Joo-Sung KIM                 36 pts       South Korea
 2. Farshad PEYOUS               28  "        Iran
 3. Adnan Khamees AL-TALIYANI    16  "        United Arab Emirates
 4. Kyung-Hoon PARK              14  "        South Korea
 5. Chi-Won KIM                  14  "        North Korea
 6. Mojtaba MOHARRAMI            10  "        Iran

1993
Asian Football Confederation's Player of the Year Award (unofficial)
 Kazuyoshi MIURA	[Japan]

The other players in the race for the award were :
 Fahd Al-Bishi		[Saudi Arabia]
 Mefdi			[Iran]
 Masami Ihara		[Japan]
 Fu Yubin		[China]

1994
Asian Football Confederation's Sanyo Asian Player of the Year Award 
 Saeed OWAIRAN		[Saudi Arabia]

Gillette Asian Coach of the Year Award 
 Chanvit Polchivin 	[Thai Farmers Bank, Thailand]

1995
Asian Football Confederation's Sanyo Asian Player of the Year Award 
 Masami IHARA		 [Yokohama Marinos and Japan]

Coca-Cola Asian Youth Player of the Year 
 Mohamed Amor Al Kathri	 [Oman]

Gillette Asian Coach of the Year 
 Park Jong Hwan		 [Ilhwa Chunma, Korea Republic]

1996
Asian Football Confederation's Sanyo Player of the Year Award (April 3, 1997) :
 Khodadad AZIZI       [Iran] 

The other players in the race for the award were : 
 Ali Daei             [Iran] 
 Ko Jeong Woon        [South Korea] 
 Mohammed Al Daeyea   [Saudi Arabia] 
 Yousef Al Thuniyan   [Saudi Arabia]

Coca-Cola Young Player of the Year Award :
 Bamrong Boomprom     [Thailand U-16]

Gillette Coach of the Year Award :
 Ma Yunan             [China, Womens Nat.team]

1997
Asian Football Confederation's Sanyo Player of the Year Award (May 13,1998):
 Hidetoshi NAKATA     [Japan]
  
The other players in the race for the award were : 
 Khodadad Azizi       [Iran]
 Karim Bagheri        [Iran] 
 Choi Yong Su         [South Korea]

Clarion Young Player of the Year Award :
 Mehdi Mahdavikia     [Iran]

Motorola Coach of the Year Award:  
 Cha Bum Kun          [South Korea]

Canon Asian All Stars XI 
Khodadad Azizi (Iran), Choi Yong-su (Korea Republic), Hidetoshi Nakata 
(Japan), Ha Seok-ju (Korea Republic), Mohd Al Jahani (Saudi Arabia), 
Karim Bagheri (Iran), Naoki Soma (Japan), Karim Bagheri (Iran), Mohammed 
Al Jahani (Saudi Arabia), Zhang Enhua (China), Abdullah Sulaiman (Saudi Arabia),
Hong Myung-bo (Korea Republic), Mohammad Al Daeyea (Saudi Arabia).

1998
Asian Football Confederation's Sanyo Player of the Year Award (May 25, 1999) :
 Hidetoshi NAKATA     [Japan] 
  
The other players in the race for the award were :
 Fan Zhiyi            [China]
 Jassem Al Houwadi    [Kuwait]  
 All Daei             [Iran]

Clarion Young Player of the Year Award: 
 Shinji Ono           [Japan]

Motorola Coach of the Year Award:
 Takashi Kawabara     [Japan, Jubilo Iwata]

Canon Asian All Stars XI 
Jassem Al Houwaidi (Kuwait), Ali Daei (Iran), Hiroshi Nanami (Japan), 
Hidetoshi Nakata(Japan), Nikolay Shirshov (Uzbekistan), Yoo Sang-chul 
(Korea Republic), Mehdi Mahdavikia (Iran), Abdullah Suleiman (Saudi Arabia),
Yutaka Akita (Japan), Fan Zhiyi (China), Jiang Jin (China).

1999
Asian Football Confederation's Sanyo Player of the Year Award :
 Ali DAEI             [Iran]

The other players in the race for the award were : 
 Hidetoshi Nakata     [Japan] 
 Sun Wen              [China] [First woman player to be nominated for the award] 
 Hwang Sun Hong       [South Korea] 
 Bashar Abdullah      [Koweit]
 Masashi Nakayama     [Japan]

Clarion Young Player of the Year Award:
 Waleed Hamzah        [Qatar U-17]  

Coach of the Year Award :
 Mahmood Rakhimov     [Uzbekistan] [posthumous; was killed in a car crash 
                                    in Dec.1999]
Special Women's MVP Award 
 Sun Wen		 [China]

Canon Asian All Stars XI 
Ali Daei (Iran), Masashi Nakayama (Japan), Hidetoshi Nakata (Japan), 
Hussain Abdulghani (Saudi Arabia), Sultan Rashid (UAE), Kim Do-kyun 
(Korea Republic), Mohd Al Khilaiwi (Saudi Arabia), Yuji Nakazawa (Japan),
Radi Shnishal Swade (Iraq), Zhang Enhua (China), Pavel Bugalo (Uzbekistan). 

2000
Asian Football Confederation's Sanyo Player of the Year Award (May 9, 2001) :
 Nawaf AL TEMYAT      [Saudi Arabia]

The other players in the race for the award were :
 Hiroshi Nanami       [Japan]
 Ryuzo Morioka        [Japan]
 Lee Dong-gook        [South Korea]

AFC Young Player of the Year Award:
 Ryoichi Maeda		[Jubilo Iwata, Japan]  

AFC Coach of the Year Award :
 Philippe Troussier 	[Japan Nat.Team] (France)

AFC All Stars XI 
Nawaf Al Temyat (Saudi Arabia), Jiang Jin (China), Mohammed Al Daeyea 
(Saudi Arabia),  Hendro Kartiko (Indonesia), Ryuzo Morioka (Japan), 
Hong Myung-bo (South Korea), Fan Zhiyi (China), Jamal Mubarak (Kuwait),
Mohammed Al Khilaiwi (Saudi Arabia), Saoud Fath (Qatar), Shunsuke Nakamura
(Japan), Karim Bagheri (Iran), Hiroshi Nanami (Japan), Kiatisuk Senamuang 
(Thailand), Lee Dong-gook (South Korea), Naohiro Takahara (Japan), 
Abbas Obeid Jassem (Iraq)  

Club Team of the Year: Al Hilal (Saudi Arabia)
National Team of the Year: Japan

2001
Asian Football Confederation's Sanyo Player of the Year Award (May 17, 2002) :
 FAN Zhiyi             [China] 

The other players in the race for the award were :
 Abdullah Al-Shehan    [Saudi Arabia]
 Li Tie                [China] 
 Ali Karimi            [Iran]
 Mirdjalal Kasimov     [Uzbekistan] 

AFC Young Player of the Year Award:
 Du Wei                [China]   

AFC Coach of the Year Award :
 Nassar Al-Johar       [Saudi Arabia Nat.Team] (Saudi Arabia) 

Club Team of the Year:
 Suwon Samsung (South Korea)

National Team of the Year:
 China

2002
Asian Football Confederation's Sanyo Player of the Year Award (May 28, 2003) :
 Shinji ONO            [Japan] 

The other players in the race for the award were :
 Junichi Inamoto       [Japan]
 Ahn Jung-hwan         [South Korea]
 Li Tie                [China] 

AFC Young Player of the Year Award:
 Lee Chun-soo          [South Korea]   

AFC Coach of the Year Award :
 Guus Hiddink          [South Korea Nat.Team] (Netherlands) 

Club Team of the Year:
 Pakhtakor Toshkent (Uzbekistan)

National Team of the Year:
 South Korea

2003
Asian Football Confederation's Sanyo Player of the Year Award :
 Mehdi MAHDAVIKIA      [Iran]

The other players in the race for the award were :
 Therdsak Chaiman      [Thailand]
 Maksim Shatskikh      [Uzbekistan]

AFC Young Player of the Year Award:
 Yoshito Okubo         [Japan]

AFC Coach of the Year Award :
 Cha Kyung-bok         [Seongnam Chunma] (South Korea) 

Club Team of the Year:
 Al-Ain (UAE)

National Team of the Year:
 Iraq

2004
Asian Football Confederation's Sanyo Player of the Year Award :
 Ali KARIMI            [Iran]

The other players in the race for the award were :
 A'ala Hubail          [Bahrain]
 Shunsuke Nakamura     [Japan]

AFC Woman Player of the Year Award:
 Homare Sawa           [Japan]

AFC Coach of the Year Award :
 Adnan Hamd            [Iraq]

Club Team of the Year:
 Al-Ittihad (Saudi Arabia)

National Team of the Year:
 Japan

About this document

With thanks to Roberto Di Maggio, Rui Manuel Conceiçăo Silva and Seungsoo Lee for additional information.

Prepared and maintained by José Luis Pierrend and Erik Garin for the Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation

Authors: José Luis Pierrend (josepie@hotmail.com) and Erik Garin (garinerik@hispeed.ch)
Last updated: 1 Jun 2023

(C) Copyright José Luis Pierrend, Erik Garin and RSSSF 1998/2023
You are free to copy this document in whole or part provided that proper acknowledgement is given to the authors. All rights reserved.