KUALA LUMPUR The Iranian futsal team has been named the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Team of the Month for July after their third consecutive triumph in the Asian Futsal Championships, AFC said in a statement on Saturday.

Iran's championship-winning futsal team also provided the Sanyo AFC Player of the Month, with the prize going to star forward Vahid Shamsaei.

Shamsaei, who scored twice in Iran's 4-1 defeat of Kazakhstan in last year's final received the award for his prolific strike rate at the 2001 tournament, where he bagged 30 goals in seven games, including three hat-tricks in the match against Singapore, IRNA reported.

"In front of the thousands of local supporters who packed the 12,000-seater gym of Tehran's Azadi Sports Complex, Iran defeated Uzbekistan 9-0 in the final to ensure the champions of each edition of the tournament so far consolidated their status as kings of the indoor game," AFC said.

In their opening match against Palestine, the reigning champions -- who last year in Bangkok successfully defended the title they won at the inaugural Asian Futsal Championships in Malaysia -- sent out a warning to the other competitors with a 16-4 victory.

This was followed by a 28-0 goal festival against lowly Singapore, before they coasted into the quarterfinals with a 10-1 defeat of Chinese Taipei and an 8-4 victory over Japan.

After the Iran machine steamrollering Kuwait 18-2, there was a small scare in the semifinal when Japan were 2-1 up at half-time.

However, normal service was resumed in the second period and the Iranians ran out 8-2 winners to meet the Uzbeks in the final.

The Motorola Coach of the Month award goes to Masakazu Suzuki for guiding Jubilo Iwata to victory in the first stage of the 2001 J-League, the first success for the Shizuoka giants since winning the overall league title in 1999, following their first success in 1997.

Suzuki, formerly assistant to Macedonian Gjokica Hadzievski who he replaced as head coach last September, has revitalized Jubilo after a disappointing 2000 reason.

Suzuki's side finished the 15-game first stage nine points ahead of JEF United Ichihara and Nagoya Grampus Eight, so booking their place in the season-ending championship playoff between the two respective stage winners.

Jubilo set the platform for their comfortable triumph by starting the season with an eight-game winning streak, a feat that earned the 1999 Asian Club Championship winners the AFC Team of the Month award for April.