Chinese forward Wu Lei who currently plays for Li Liga's RCD Espanyol received Asian Football Personality of the Year Award at the World Soccer Congress (WSC) on Friday in Barcelona, Spain.

The award ceremony happened at the end of the day. Wu was referred as the Chinese player who made not only history in La Liga, but also outstanding contributions to soccer as a world language and thus won the award.

As Wu and RCD Espanyol will play Deportivo Alavés at home on Saturday, he did not show up at the ceremony but gave a short award-speech via a clip: "I am so happy to receive this honor and I will continue to work hard to meet your expectations."

Other awards and winners included:

Director of Football of the Year: Txiki Begiristain of Manchester City from Premier League

Social Contribution: Johan Cruyff

Manager of the Year: Pep Guardiola

Manager of the 21st Century: Fabio Capello

Club of the 21st Century: AC Milan from Serie A

International Football Personality of the Year: Gianni Infantino

The WSC is a major soccer event run by the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) and joined by the country's main media outlets and soccer agencies. The Asian Football Personality of the Year Award is set up for those who have made great contributions to the development of Spanish soccer.

The game between RCD Espanyol and Deportivo Alavés at the RCDE Stadium, on Sunday is also seen by many as an Asian derby because both teams have a player from an Asian country- RCD Espanyol have Wu Lei from China and Deportivo Alavés have Takashi Inui from Japan.