BEC TERO SASANA: Team of The Month (AFC AWARD August 2000)
By Asian Football Confederation
Kuala Lampur, 7 September 2000 - Japan’s latest superstar of the pitch, Junichi Inamoto, has been named the Sanyo Player of the Month for August after leading his club Gamba Osaka to the top of the J.League.
The continued development of the 20-year-old midfielder has seen him hailed as one of the finest young players ever to emerge in the Japanese game, a fact borne out by Inamoto’s position as the driving force behind his club’s ascent to the top.
Gamba went into the pre-Asian Cup and Olympic break in the league leading the second stage thanks to Inamoto, who also shone during August for the full national team in their impressive 3-1 victory over the United Arab Emirates.
Another man driving his team forward has been honoured by the Asian Football Confederation is K.Rajagobal of newly crowned M-League champions Selangor who claimed the Motorola Coach of the Month award.
Rajagobal, a former Malaysian international, took over the club back in the dark days following their relegation to the second division and since then has led the team to glory. After gaining promotion at the first attempt, Rajagobal’s boys took the top flight by storm to claim the league title before going on to dominate the Malaysia Cup tournament.
Also claiming a national title this month were BEC Terro Sasana of Thailand, who have been named the AFC’s Team of the Month for August.
BEC finally clinched the Caltex Premier League title after missing out narrowly on the last day of the season last year to the Air Force team.
The month’s final award, the Heineken Goal of the Month, goes to Tatsuhiko Kubo of Sanfrecce Hiroshima in Japan for his volley during the club’s 3-2 defeat at the hands of Gamba Osaka.
