Football Ground Map
Football Ground Map
Even though many football fans consider the Asian Cup a devalued trophy, many players from the subcontinent use it as a chance to showcase their footballing potential.
It won't be a trending topic like a FIFA event, but it definitely gives us a chance to see some promising new faces.
And while in most cases, it is an affair dominated by West Asian clubs, the 2016 Asian Cup was different.
Let us recap what happened in the tournament and see why it was a special occasion for thousands of fans, including those who like to use casino online to predict the winner.
The AFC Cup is the second tier of Asian club football and like the Europa League in Europe, often sees exciting and underrated clubs come to the spotlight.
In the 2016 AFC cup, we saw many such moments. Even though the tournament started very slowly with many dull matches, it started picking up in terms of quality in the knockout stages.
In the Round of 16, there were two one-sided score lines as Johor Darul Ta'zim smashed Kaya 7-2. In another one-sided encounter, Al-Ahed beat Al-Wahda 4-0. It was safe to say that both East and West Zones were picking up their quality to blow teams away.
In the quarter-finals, the West Zone produced two one-sided encounters. In the first match, Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya smashed aside Al-Jaish 5-1 - something which wasn't widely predicted on www.bestaubettingsites.com. In the second match, Al-Ahed secured a comprehensive 3-0 aggregate win over Al-Muharraq.
However, things were very different in the East Zone. Both the encounters were undecided till the final whistle of the second leg. In the first quarter-final, Johor Darul Ta'zim beat South China 3-2 on aggregate. They won the second leg away from home with a score of 2-1.
In the second quarter-final, India's Bengaluru FC secured a semi-final ticket by edging Tampines Rovers 1-0. The one goal they scored in the first leg proved to be enough.
If you think that the drama was finished here, you couldn't be more wrong. In the first semi-final featuring Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya and Al-Ahed, the aggregate was 4-3 in favor of the Iraqi side. The second leg had it all as the home side edged to a 3-2 win to book their spot in the final.
In the second semi-final between Bengaluru FC and Johor Darul Ta'zim, the football standards rose to impossible heights. Just like the first semi-final, the first leg finished 1-1. However, this time it was the away side that came up with the goods as the Indian team won 3-1 on the night.
The final was extremely edgy with neither team giving an inch. The pivotal moment came in the 70th minute when Ahmad scored the winner to ensure that the Iraqi side got over the line.
The tournament was particularly special for Indian football. It was the biggest moment for the growing sport since the country's qualification to the AFC Asia Cup in 2011.
It also showed how the country is undergoing a footballing resurgence slowly regaining their status as a footballing force in Asia that they used to be in the 50s and 60s.
Taking my son to his first football match was one of the best experiences I've had as a father so far. I've written this article for Alex to read when he gets older.
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