Yugoslav Slobodan Santrac became the first foreign coach to guide a Chinese soccer club to the league title when his club Shandong Luneng Taishan won the 1999 Chinese professional league on Sunday, China Daily reported on December 7.

The Chinese Football Association on Monday presented Santrac the Pepsi Gold Medal Award for his achievement in China.

Once a strong contender for the head coach of the Chinese Team, Santrac has resigned to stay with the Shandong club, leaving countryman Bora Milutinovic as the possible successor to Bobby Houghton, who failed to take China to the Sydney Olympics.

Qu Shengqing of runners-up Liaoning won two awards, the Pepsi Best Football of the Year and the Best Striker for the league-leading 17 goals in 26 matches.

Other awards include the best team given to Shandong Luneng, best rookie to Zhang Xiaorui of Tianjin Taida, fair play award to Shenzhen Ping'an and best referee to Zhang Baohua.