Iranian star Mehdi Mahdavikia was crowned Asian player of the year here Wednesday as the battling footballers from war-torn Iraq were named the best international team of 2003.

Mahdavikia had an outstanding year with German side Hamburg SV, helping the Bundesliga outfit to fourth place in the table and inspiring them to victory in the League Cup.

"I am delighted that I was picked. It is a great honour, " said Mahdavikia, who edged out Thailand's Therdsak Chaiman and Uzbekistan's Maksim Shatskikh at the Asian Football Confederation awards night.

"There are so many top-quality players in Asia and to be considered the best among all of them is just incredible," Mahdavikia added.

Japanese star Yoshito Okubo, of Cerezo Osaka, won the AFC young player of the year while Cha Kyung-bok was named AFC coach of the year after taking Korea's champions Seongnam Chunma to their third straight K-League title.

"Cha has encouraged the players to keep the ball on the ground and work hard," the AFC said.

Elsewhere, there was praise for the courage shown by Iraq, who against all odds qualified for the 2004 Asian Cup in China despite massive disruption caused by the US-led military offensive to topple Saddam Hussein.

Other winners were Al Ain (club of the year), Bai Jie of China (woman player of the year), North Korea (women's team of the year), Iran (futsal team award), Moradi Masoud of Iran (match official award) and South Korea won the AFC fair play award.