Ali Karimi's talent has never been questioned, his inspiring - if at times frustrating - displays in the two victories, AFC said in a statement.

While Karim Baqeri won the scoring honors with long-range strikes in both the 1-0 win in Tehran and the 3-0 victory in Abu Dhabi, Karimi showed throughout both matches his sublime dribbling skills as well as his defensive capabilities.

"However, it was his inability to convert his own self-created chances that came to the fore in the first leg in Tehran, when his incredible ball control and balance helped him carve through the UAE's defense time after time but he was unable to produce the finishing touch to match," it explained.

AFC noted that Karimi surprisingly adopted a more defensive role in the second leg, when he even saved one shot off the line and deflected another goal-bound effort in his efforts to help Iran keep a clean sheet.

Iran's runner-up finish put it into the two-legged AFC playoffs with the UAE, which they won to secure a place in the AFC/UEFA playoffs against the Republic of Ireland for a place in the World Cup finals in Japan and South Korea.

Bora Milutinovic's historic achievement of leading China to its first-ever World Cup has earned him the AFC Coach of the Month award for October.

The Yugoslav, who has been praised for helping develop the team's new-found self-confidence and discipline, saw his side seal their place at the top of Group B of the Asian final qualifying round with their 1-0 victory over Oman in front of 60,000 fans in Shenyang's Wulihe Stadium.

Having assured itself of a place at next year's finals, the side also beat Qatar 3-0 in its next home match before a team missing several first-choice players lost 1-0 to Uzbekistan in Pakhtakor.

Milu, as he's known by his now-adoring public in China, was brought in by the Chinese FA in January 2000 with the ultimate goal of leading the national team to Korea/Japan 2002, having experience at the last four World Cups with Mexico, Costa Rica, USA and Nigeria.

Saudi Arabia's remarkable achievement in topping Group A and earning the other automatic qualification place at next year's World Cup has seen it named the Coca-Cola AFC Team of the Month.

The Saudis' crucial 2-1 win against Iraq in Baghdad in early October kept it a head of favorites Iran, who won their game in hand to take a one-point lead over Nasser al-Johar's men going into the final round of matches.

However, Saudi Arabia's crushing 4-1 victory over Thailand at home proved enough, as Iran crashed 3-1 to surprise package Bahrain, ensuring the kingdom its third successive appearance in the World Cup finals.