Yasuhito Endo - Asian player of the year
Japanese star Yasuhito Endo won the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Player of the Year Award on Tuesday night.
Endo, of J.League side Gamba Osaka , won the award calculated on a points system covering AFC tournament matches in the 2009 season.
Also nominated were Syria's Firas Al Khatib, Kengo Nakamura of Japan, Iranian Hadi Aghily and Sayed Mohamed Adnan of Bahrain.
Endo played three AFC Asian Cup 2011 qualifiers this year as well as six AFC Champions League matches. He also played in three FIFA World Cup qualifiers for Japan. Endo accumulated 120 points in these matches, 20 more points than joint second-placed Sayed Mohamed Adnan and Nakamura. Aghily finished with 95 points while Al Khatib ended up with 85.
Endo helped Japan qualify for the FIFA World Cup finals while Gamba, last year's Asian champions, reached the round of 16 this year before losing to fellow J.Leaguers Kawasaki Frontale 3-2.
"I would like to thank the AFC for this Award," said Endo, who was nominated last year but lost to Uzbek Server Djeparov.
"This is a big honour for me. I was here last year but unfortunately, I wasn't able to win. However, I am very happy to win this year".
"I hope I can be a role model for young players everywhere and give hope to others in Asian football".