Japan's Nishikawa named MVP

Kuala Lumpur: Jun Nishikawa was named the AFC U-16 Championship Malaysia 2018 Most Valuable Player (MVP) after steering Japan to their third title with a 1-0 victory over Tajikistan in the final at the National Stadium on Sunday.

Nishikawa scored the winning goal in the final but was a key component in Japan’s march to the title with sterling performances throughout the tournament.

"I didn't score any goals before this game, so going into the match I really wanted to score against Tajikistan, and I did it and I'm really glad. It's a great feeling winning the MVP in Asia, I'm really happy and it is a good achievement for me," said Nishikawa.

"We've had a lot of tournaments and training camps with this team, we have really good chemistry and unity so it's really important to win the tournament with this team. I really want to try and improve towards the 2019 FIFA U-17 World Cup Peru and have a great tournament."

Malaysia’s Luqman Hakim Shamsudin won the topscorer award with five goals, pipping Japan’s Shoji Toyama and Australia’s Noah Botic, who had also scored the same number of goals.

There was another honour for Japan as they won the Fairplay Award.

Photos: AFC