BRUSSELS, May 8 (Xinhua) -- Belgian first division football club AA Gent's Dutch forward Mbark Boussoufa has been voted Belgium's Player of the Year.

    The former Chelsea player, who has delighted fans and journalists alike, got 672 of the votes from Belgium's first division players on Sunday. He was well ahead of his nearest rival, Christian Wilhelmson of Anderlecht.

    Boussoufa, 21, also won the Young Player of the Year award ahead of Racing Genk's Steven Dufour and Anderlecht defender Vincent Kompany.

    He was also voted the most popular player by the readers of the weekly "Sport Voetbal Magazine", the dailies "Het Nieuwsblad" and "La Derniere Heure" and viewers of the public service broadcasters VRT and RTBF.

    He received a massive 3,986 votes, well ahead of the Andelecht veteran Par Zetterberg on 1,010 votes and Club Brugge's Gert Verheyen who got 745 votes.

    "I want to thank all the players who voted for me, but football is a team sport, so I dedicate this trophy to my team-mates and the club," Boussoufa said of his Player of the Year award.

    This came less than two weeks after the Dutchman with Moroccan roots was awarded the Ebony Shoe, a prize for the best African player in Belgium.

    Boussoufa recently decided to play international football for Morocco, where his parents are from, rather than the land of his birth, the Netherlands.

    Boussoufa started his career with Ajax youth team, then moved to Chelsea where he played for the youth teams and reserves before he signed for Gent two years ago.

    Meanwhile, Zulte-Waregem's part-time coach Francky Dury was voted Coach of the Year and Anderlecht's Par Zetterberg won the fair play prize. The Standard goalie, Verdan Runje, was voted Keeper of the Year. Enditem