Kuala Lumpur: We are back for with goals, appearances and trophies as we answer your questions in the latest round of Asian Football Trivia.
After two interesting rounds of trivia, you have upped your game with trickier questions which had us digging deeper into our record books to come back with the answers. There are goal scorers, record appearance makers and successful nations in this round of questions and answers.
So without further ado, let's dive in. Remember to send us your questions for next week via our social media handles and don’t forget to include the hashtag #AskAFC. Enjoy!
@Nafe_Al3mri from Saudi Arabia, got in touch through Twitter asking about the most number of goals scored by one player in a single match in all AFC competitions.
من هو أكثر لاعب تسجيلا للأهداف في مباراة واحدة في بطولات الاتحاد الآسيوي
— نافع العمري ?? (@nafe_al3mri) July 26, 2018
On March 22, 2006, Japan’s Gamba Osaka equalled the record for highest win in the history of the AFC Champions League, beating Vietnamese side Da Nang 15-0. Brazilian striker Magno Alves entered the history books in that match by bagging five goals for his side. He remains the only player in the competition’s history to have scored more than four goals in one game.
The record for most AFC Cup goals scored in one match is also five goals. Three players have achieved this feat in the competition’s history; In 2013, Maldivian football legend Ali Ashfaq became the first player to net five times in one AFC Cup match when he led New Radiant to a 7-0 victory over Indonesia’s Persibo Bojonegoro.
The following year, Liberian forward Boakay Eddie Foday scored five for Persipura Jayapura as the demolished Yangon United 9-2 in the round of 16. DPR Korea’s Kim Yu-song was the third and last player to get five goals when 4.25 beat Mongolia’s Erchim 6-0 in the group stage of the 2017 edition.
Now, let’s have a look at national teams. Last week, we learned that Ali Daei scored four goals in IR Iran’s 6-2 win over Korea Republic in the 1996 AFC Asian Cup. In doing so, he had become the second player to score four goals in one match in the competition’s history. Coincidentally, the first player to do that was also an Iranian. Behtash Fariba put four past Bangladesh as Team Melli romped to a 7-0 win in the 1980 edition.
Since then, two more players have scored four goals in an AFC Asian Cup match. In 2011, Ismaeel Abdullatif scored four of Bahrain’s five goals as they defeated India 5-2 in the group stage. And in the most recent tournament in Australia 2015 Jordan’s Hamza Al Dardour added his name to this exclusive list with four goals in his nation’s 5-0 win over neighbours Palestine.
@AnwarAAKA from Amman, Jordan, asked about players who appeared in five editions of the AFC Asian Cup.
من هم اللاعبين الذين شاركوا في كاس آسيا لخمس بطولات مختلفة عبر تاريخها ؟؟
— ️ AAKA ️ (@AnwarAAKA) July 20, 2018
The short answer to Anwar’s question is; no player has ever appeared in five editions of the AFC Asian Cup. However, that could change in January once the 2019 tournament gets underway.
Two-time AFC Player of the Year Server Djeparov is one of two Uzbekistan players who have represented their nation in the last four AFC Asian Cups. Alongside goalkeeper Ignatiy Nesterov, the 32-year-old made his debut in the competition all the way back in 2004. The duo went on to appear in the 2007, 2011 and 2015 editions. Both remain candidates to make the Uzbekistan squad for the upcoming tournament in the UAE. Should either of them play, he would become the first player ever to appear in five editions.
Alongside the Uzbek pair, nine other players have appeared in four AFC Asian Cups, all of whom have either hung their boots, or been out of contention for their national teams for some time; the list includes another Uzbek player; Timur Kapadze, who was most recently in charge of the national team. IR Iran icons Mahdi Mahdavikia and Javan Nekounam are joined by Qatar’s Bilal Mohammed, UAE’s Adnan Al Talyani, Iraq’s Younis Mahmoud, Saudi Arabia’s Saud Kariri, Japan’s Yasuhito Endo and China PR’s Li Ming.
To wrap up this week’s questions, we have one from @F9els, an Al Hilal fan from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. He asks which country’s teams have won the most number of AFC Champions League titles?
عدد الدول التي حققت أنديتها دوري أبطال آسيا
وكم نادي من كل دولة حققها— FAISAL'57 (@F9els) July 17, 2018
Ten nations boast continental club champions across the Asian Club Championship and AFC Champions League. Clubs from Korea Republic dominate with 11 titles, their nearest chasers, albeit by some distance, are Japan who have six.
Since the inauguration of the AFC Champions League in 2002-03, teams from seven countries won the title; again, Korea Republic has the lion’s share with five titles, followed by Japanese clubs who have won three, while Saudi Arabia and China PR have two titles each. The UAE supplied the first champions, Al Ain, while Qatar’s only win was Al Sadd’s 2011 victory.
In the AFC Champions League era, Saudi clubs have lost more finals than any other nation. Al Ittihad won back-to-back titles in 2004 and 2005 but lost the 2009 final to Korea Republic’s Pohang Steelers. Three years later, Al Ahli were beaten by another Korea side, Ulsan Hyundai. The last two runner-up finishes for Saudi clubs came through Al Hilal who were at the losing end of the 2014 final against Western Sydney Wanderers and 2017 against Urawa Red Diamonds.
Those are all the answers from us this week, keep your questions coming through our social media channels and remember to include #AskAFT!
Source: the-afc.com