Takakura, who also won the award in 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017 and 2018, led Japan to the FIFA Women's World Cup France 2019 Round of 16.

The Nadeshiko were equally impressive in the 2019 SheBelieves Cup in the United States.

The Nadeshiko held the United States 2-2 in their SheBelieves Cup opener and registered an impressive 3-1 win against Brazil before going down 3-0 to eventual champions England.

Hong Kong Football Association LTD. (HKFA) and Guam Football Association (GFA) were honoured with the AFC Member Association of the Year 2019 Developing and Aspiring awards respectively.

The three East Asian Member Associations have made great strides in 2019 through competitive Continental matches, as well as programmes and initiatives to further spread the awareness of the game.

Chinese Football Association, Singapore Football Association and Brunei Darussalam were awarded The AFC President's Recognition Awards for Grassroots Football 2019.

“I’m very pleased and honoured to get such a big award," said Chung. "I would like to thank the Korea Football Association for supporting my work.

"We have seen in the AFC club competitions that Asian teams are very capable of performing. I’m very happy that my team has also shown that on the world stage.”

Japan 2-0 South Africa

All of the scoring came in the first half, with Olympique Lyonnais star Saki Kumagai notching a rare international goal in the 20th minute before Yuika Sugasawa added a second four minutes before half time.

Japan’s success follows last month’s 4-0 success over Canada, as the Asian champions look to challenge for medals in their home Olympics next August.

Group A will have DPR Korea, hosts Korea Republic, Vietnam and Myanmar.

Group B pitted Australia, hosts China PR, Thailand and Chinese Taipei.

Beleza captain Mina Tanaka netted a superb hat-trick, with Sara Ito and Kokona Iwasaki also getting on the scoresheet, as the rulers of Japan’s domestic scene demonstrated their class to the rest of the Continent.

The result gave Masato Nagata’s side a final tally of seven points, creating an unassailable four-point lead over second-placed Incheon Hyundai Steel Red Angels, who will close the tournament against Jiangsu Suning later on Saturday.

The three-day conference, with more than 70 participants from the AFC Member Associations, covered various important topics including key case studies from expert speakers from FIFA and UEFA who shared insights, ideas and future plans for the sport.

The 2nd AFC Women’s Football Conference started on a lively note with the keynote session themed ‘Dare to Dream’ setting the tone before FIFA shared its blueprint on women’s football development in Asia.