Top 10 Asian legends to have played in AFC Champions League

The AFC Champions League is set to bid adieu and return in a new format.

The second leg of the AFC Champions League 2023/24 final between Al Ain FC and Yokohama F. Marinos will bring the curtain down on the continental competition in its current guise as the AFC Champions League Elite and AFC Champions League 2 get set to kick off next season.

Over the tournament’s 21-year history, fans of Asian football have witnessed memorable matches, special teams and top-quality players from all over the world.

Here we highlight some of the best Asian players to appear in the competition.

Kwoun Sun-tae

As the only player to win the tournament three times, Kwoun Sun-tae is undoubtedly AFC Champions League royalty. In his first year as a professional footballer, the goalkeeper was the last line of defence as Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors became the first side from East Asia to lift the trophy by defeating Syria’s Al Karamah in 2006.

Ten years later, and in his final season with the Jeonju club, he tasted continental glory once more, this time when they overcame Al Ain in the final. A move to Japan followed and the success continued as, with Kashima Antlers, Kwoun kept back-to-back clean sheets against Persepolis in the 2018 final to cap a historic third title.

Omar Abdulrahman

Very few players embody the AFC Champions League era without winning the competition like Omar Abdulrahman; the legendary UAE playmaker was a permanent fixture in the competition for the best part of the 2010s, racking up over 65 appearances in the colours of Al Ain and Shabab Al Ahli.

Abdulrahman’s finest campaign came in 2016 when he was named MVP of the tournament after leading Al Ain to the final for the first time in 11 years. The following year, he delivered one of his best individual displays, scoring twice and assisting one in a landmark 6-1 victory for Al Ain against Esteghlal.

Zheng Zhi

Guangzhou FC’s rise to one of Asia’s finest teams in the early 2010s was swift. Led by their inspirational captain Zheng Zhi, the club debuted in 2012 and were crowned champions the following year as Zheng skippered Marcelo Lippi’s side to an away goals win over FC Seoul to become the first Chinese team to win the AFC Champions League.

Boasting some of China PR’s best players and talented acquisitions from overseas, Zheng was back on the podium in 2015. Not renowned for his goals, the then-35-year-old netted the winner against Gamba Osaka in the semi-final before a hard-fought 1-0 aggregate victory over the UAE’s Al Ahli saw Guangzhou lift the trophy once more.

Salem Al Dawsari

The poster boy of Al Hilal’s era of success in the AFC Champions League, Salem Al Dawsari is a one-club man who has competed in 11 of the past 13 editions of the competition. The talented winger played in the final a record five times; in 2014, 2017, 2019, 2021 and 2022, winning the title on two occasions and being named MVP in the 2021 edition.

Reigning AFC Player of the Year, Al Dawsari is a member of an exclusive club of players to have scored in two AFC Champions League finals, doing so in 2019 and 2022, both against Urawa Red Diamonds. At the age of 32, he is currently vice-captain at the club and has scored in every competition he has ever played in for both club and country.

Lee Dong-gook

Scorer of the second-highest number of goals in the AFC Champions League, Lee Dong-gook had already tasted Asian Club Championship glory with Pohang Steelers in 1997-98 by the time he would become one of the competition’s most prolific marksmen after joining Jeonbuk in 2009.

In 2011, he picked up the MVP and top scorer award, only to finish as a runner-up to Al Sadd following a penalty shootout loss. But the striker made up for that disappointment when Jeonbuk lifted the title in 2016, Lee scoring five goals along the way. His then record-extending 37th and final continental goal came in a win over Beijing FC in 2019.

Mohammed Noor

Another Saudi icon earning his place amongst AFC Champions League legends is midfielder Mohammed Noor. The long-serving Al Ittihad captain was the cornerstone of the club’s success in the 2000s, combining technical excellence on the pitch with leadership qualities that made him synonymous with the Jeddah club.

Not only is Noor a two-time continental champion, he also holds the distinct record of being the only player to ever score in three AFC Champions League finals. Bagging a brace in the 5-0 thumping of Seongnam FC in the 2004 final, then scoring in the second leg of the 2004 final against Al Ain, both of which Al Ittihad triumphed in, before returning amongst the goals in 2009 when Al Ittihad narrowly lost out to Pohang Steelers.

Yuki Abe

Another two-time AFC Champions League winner, Urawa Red Diamonds legend Yuki Abe played pivotal roles in title-winning campaigns a decade apart. It was the midfielder’s header that capped off a 2-0 second-leg win over Sepahan in the 2007 final as the Saitama side achieved continental glory for the first time.

A decade on, now captaining the team and often deployed as a centre-back, the veteran led Urawa to victory over Al Hilal to lift the trophy again. In 2019, and no longer a first-team regular, Abe missed out on becoming the first player to win three titles with the same club when Al Hilal gained their revenge in the final in what was his last AFC Champions League appearance.

Nasser Al Shamrani

If Al Dawsari and Noor’s AFC Champions League careers were largely associated with a single club, Al Shamrani has been the polar opposite, having represented and scored for four different clubs in the AFC Champions League, a record for any Asian player. He also found the back of the net for Al Hidd in the AFC Cup, becoming the first player to score for five different clubs in AFC competitions.

The journeyman striker started his continental exploits with Al Shabab in 2005, helping them reach the semi-finals in 2010 before making the move across Riyadh to Al Hilal, where he had his best scoring season in 2014 with 10 goals, playing his only final but losing to Western Sydney Wanderers. He then had spells at Al Ain and Al Ittihad, scoring the last of his 30 goals in the competition in 2019. His tally places him fourth amongst the all-time top scorers of the AFC Champions League.

Ai Kesen

Scorer of two world-class goals in AFC Champions League finals, Ai Kesen proved the man for the big occasion for Guangzhou. Having already found the back of the net in the first leg of the 2013 final, the forward’s exquisite first touch and cool finish lit up Tianhe Stadium in the return meeting with the goal that ultimately sealed the title.

Two years on and he was at it again, producing a Bergkamp-esque turn and sublime finish to bring joy to the Tianhe faithful once more with the only goal of the final against Al Ahli. He went on to score goals aplenty over four campaigns with Shanghai Port, with a semi-final finish in 2017 the closest he came to further glory. In the AFC Champions League era, only three players boast more goals than Ai Kesen.

Abdullah Al Mayouf

A graduate of Al Hilal’s youth system, Abdullah Al Mayouf could only dream of the heights he would reach with the club when he made his debut as a substitute for the legendary Mohammed Al Deayea in 2005. Since then, he has gone on to be the goalkeeper with most appearances in the AFC Champions League and with most finals played in the competition.

Currently donning Al Ittihad colours, the 37-year-old actually started his continental career with their city rivals Al Ahli, which he helped reach the AFC Champions League final in 2012. Four years later, he returned to Al Hilal whom he guided to four more finals, in 2017, 2019, 2021 and 2022, winning two titles in the process.

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