{"id":4718,"date":"2025-10-17T07:12:52","date_gmt":"2025-10-17T00:12:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/?p=4718"},"modified":"2025-10-17T07:12:54","modified_gmt":"2025-10-17T00:12:54","slug":"dawsari-and-takahashi-crowned-asias-finest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/dawsari-and-takahashi-crowned-asias-finest\/","title":{"rendered":"Dawsari and Takahashi crowned Asia\u2019s finest"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Saudi Arabian maestro Salem Al Dawsari was named the AFC Player of the Year and Japan star Hana Takahashi claimed the AFC Women\u2019s Player of the Year honour last night at the AFC Awards in Riyadh.

The pair took home the ultimate accolade of being Asia\u2019s finest at the 29th edition of the gala, which also crowned winners from across 18 other categories on a memorable occasion at the iconic King Fahad Cultural Center.

Al Dawsari was recognised for a stellar 2024\/25 season that saw him finish as top scorer in the AFC Champions League Elite to help Al Hilal SFC reach the last four, while also starring at the FIFA Club World Cup in their run to the Quarter-finals. At domestic level, the 34-year-old became the all-time assist leader in the league and scored 15 times.

The win is Al Dawsari\u2019s second after his 2022 prize and makes him the first Saudi Arabian to repeat the feat, and only the fourth to ever do so after Japan\u2019s Hidetoshi Nakata, Qatar\u2019s Akram Afif and Uzbekistan\u2019s Server Djeparov.

He said: \u201cI want to thank everyone who has supported me in achieving this award. This achievement is not the end of the road, but rather the beginning of greater ambitions. I will continue to work to raise my national flag high on the international stage.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n


Takahashi was rewarded for her sparkling performances as the 25-year-old spearheaded Urawa Red Diamonds Ladies\u2019 domestic cup triumph as well as a third-placed league finish, while featuring in their journey to the AFC Women\u2019s Champions League\u2122 Quarter-finals. The defender was deployed upfront to great effect, scoring 12 times across all competitions.

The Nadeshiko international was part of the 2025 SheBelieves Cup-winning squad, and the first-time nominee becomes the sixth different Japanese winner of this award. Speaking via a video message, Takahashi said: \u201cI am deeply honoured\u2026 and it is tremendously encouraging to have my efforts from last season recognised. I aim to (continue to) deliver strong results for both the national team and my club, striving to help elevate women’s football across Asia.\u201d

For masterminding DPR Korea\u2019s stunning title wins at both the FIFA U-20 Women\u2019s World Cup 2024 and AFC U20 Women\u2019s Asian Cup 2024, Ri Song Ho was named the AFC Coach of the Year (Men). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marziyeh Jafari of the Islamic Republic of Iran became the first-ever AFC Coach of the Year (Women) winner from her country for her achievements with Bam Khatoon Women\u2019s FC and the IR Iran women\u2019s national team, who qualified for the AFC Women\u2019s Asian Cup Australia 2026\u2122 under her charge.

Salar Aghapour became the seventh IR Iran recipient of the AFC Futsal Player of the Year trophy, starring at the FIFA Futsal World Cup Uzbekistan 2024 where he netted six goals to cement his status as a world-class talent.

Korea Republic sensation Lee Kang-in picked up his first AFC Asian International Player of the Year (Men) award following a season where he won the UEFA Champions League with Paris Saint-Germain and also helped the Taegeuk Warriors qualify for the FIFA World Cup 2026. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The AFC Asian International Player of the Year (Women) trophy went to Japanese magician Maika Hamano, who won a domestic treble with Chelsea FC and played her part in the Nadeshiko\u2019s SheBelieves Cup success.

The first-ever Australian nominee for the AFC Youth Player of the Year (Men), Alex Badolato, added the accolade to his AFC U20 Asian Cup China 2025 winners\u2019 medal, where he took Most Valuable Player honours. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Off the back of winning both the FIFA U-17 and U-20 Women\u2019s World Cup titles, Choe Il Son of DPR Korea was recognised as the AFC Youth Player of the Year (Women).

Asian football\u2019s highest individual accolade, the AFC Diamond of Asia, was bestowed upon The Football Association of Hong Kong, China Limited\u2019s Honorary President Timothy Fok, who is the 18th recipient of the prestigious award.

On a magnificent night of celebrations, the stellar efforts of the AFC\u2019s Member Associations and Regional Associations were feted as well, while DPR Korea\u2019s remarkable feats of sweeping both the Asian and world titles at U17 and U20 women\u2019s levels saw the DPR Korea Football Association receive the AFC President’s Recognition Award for Outstanding Achievement.

The full list of AFC Awards Riyadh

AFC Diamond of Asia<\/strong>: Timothy Fok Tsun Ting

AFC President\u2019s Recognition Award for Outstanding Achievement: <\/strong>DPR Korea Football Association

AFC Member Association of the Year<\/strong>
Platinum: <\/strong>Saudi Arabian Football Federation
Diamond: <\/strong>The Football Association of Thailand
Gold: <\/strong>The Football Association of Hong Kong, China Limited
Ruby: <\/strong>Lao Football Federation

AFC Regional Association of the Year<\/strong>: ASEAN Football Federation

AFC President\u2019s Recognition Awards for Grassroots Football<\/strong>
Gold: <\/strong>United Arab Emirates Football Association
Silver: <\/strong>Football Association of Malaysia
Bronze: <\/strong>Bangladesh Football Federation

AFC Coach of the Year (Women): <\/strong>Marziyeh Jafari (Bam Khatoon Women’s FC and IRN)

AFC Coach of the Year (Men): <\/strong>Ri Song Ho (DPR Korea U20 Women and PRK)

AFC Futsal Player of the Year: <\/strong>Salar Aghapour (Gohar Zamin and IRN)

AFC Women\u2019s Player of the Year: <\/strong>Hana Takahashi (Urawa Red Diamonds Ladies and JPN)

AFC Player of the Year: <\/strong>Salem Al Dawsari (Al Hilal SFC and KSA)

The awards below were announced in Riyadh and will be presented at an opportune time:<\/em><\/strong>

AFC Asian International Player of the Year (Women): <\/strong>Maika Hamano (Chelsea FC and JPN)

AFC Asian International Player of the Year (Men): <\/strong>Lee Kang-in (Paris Saint-Germain and KOR)

AFC Youth Player of the Year (Women): <\/strong>Choe Il Son (4.25 SC and PRK)

AFC Youth Player of the Year (Men): <\/strong>Alex Badolato (Melbourne Victory and AUS)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Saudi Arabian maestro Salem Al Dawsari was named the AFC Player of the Year and Japan star Hana<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4719,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[63],"class_list":["post-4718","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsbeat","tag-football"],"aioseo_notices":[],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Hana_compressed-scaled.jpg",2560,1706,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Hana_compressed-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Hana_compressed-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Hana_compressed-768x512.jpg",640,427,true],"large":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Hana_compressed-1024x683.jpg",640,427,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Hana_compressed-1536x1024.jpg",1536,1024,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Hana_compressed-2048x1365.jpg",2048,1365,true],"morenews-large":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Hana_compressed-825x575.jpg",825,575,true],"morenews-medium":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Hana_compressed-590x410.jpg",590,410,true]},"author_info":{"info":["admin"]},"category_info":"Newsbeat<\/a>","tag_info":"Newsbeat","comment_count":"0","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Hana_compressed-scaled.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4718","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4718"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4718\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4721,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4718\/revisions\/4721"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4719"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4718"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4718"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4718"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}