Reda Saleem (Dubai)
The eyes of the fans turn to Doha with the kick-off of the “18th edition” of the 2023 Asian Cup, which will witness the participation of 24 teams for the second time in a row, after the “UAE 2019” edition, under the slogan “Come on Asia”, and the fans are looking forward to “dream and glory”. And celebrating with their country’s teams, winning the title at the finish line, especially the nominated teams, which have previously won the title, led by Japan, which has won the cup the most, with a score of 4 times, in the years “1992, 2000, 2004, 2011”, and lost the final once, in 2019. At the hands of Qatar, the team with the most successive titles, while the Saudi “Green” fans are living the dream, after their country won the title 3 times, in the years “1984, 1988, 1996”, and also reached the final 3 times in the years “1992, 2000, 2007”. Iran won the title three times, in 1968, 1972, and 1976.
The South Korean team is included in the competition for the title, having won the cup twice in 1956 and 1960, while other teams won once, namely Israel 1964, Kuwait 1980, Iraq 2007, and Australia 2015, while the home team’s fans aspire to win the title for the second time in a row, after… Winning the cup in “Emirates 2019”.
Arab ambitions are at the forefront, not only to win the title six times, but also because the tournament is being held on Qatar, with the participation of 10 Arab teams out of 24 teams.
Japan tops the list of the most expensive teams participating in the tournament, thanks to its stars Takehiro Tomiyasu and Kaoru Mitoma, the English stars for Arsenal and Brighton, and Takefusa Kubo, the Spanish midfielder for Real Sociedad. The market value of the “Samurai” team exceeded 316 million euros, and South Korea ranked second with “193 million euros.” Iran “51 million euros,” Australia “50 million euros,” the UAE “Al-Abyad” “32 million euros,” Uzbekistan “26 million,” Saudi Arabia “23 million,” while Qatar “16 million euros.”
South Korean Kim Min-hae, the German Bayern Munich defender, occupies the top spot on the list of the most expensive players in the tournament, according to the global “Transfermarkt” website, and his market value is about 60 million euros, on par with Japanese Takefusa Kubo, the Spanish star of Real Sociedad, with the same value, then Son Hyun-min, the Tottenham player, and the Japanese Kaoru Mitoma, the Brighton player, both for 50 million euros, and fifth is the Japanese Takehiro Tomiyasu, the Arsenal player, 30 million, and his compatriot Hiroki Ito, the Stuttgart player, 22 million, equal to the Korean Hwang Hee-chan, the Wolverhampton player, and his compatriot Lee Kang-in, the Saint-Germain player. .
When Qatar hosts the event, it remembers the previous two hosting editions in 1988 and 2011, and also regains the smell of the “2022 World Cup”, especially since 9 World Cup stadiums are being held in which matches are held, especially Lusail Stadium, which witnesses the opening and closing, and is the stadium that hosted the World Cup final, in addition to the Al-Bayt stadiums. , Al Janoub, Al Thumama, Ahmed bin Ali, Education City, Khalifa International, Jassim bin Hamad and Abdullah bin Khalifa, and 9 stadiums will witness 51 matches, including 36 matches in the group stage, and the tournament begins with Qatar, the owner of the home and the public, facing Lebanon, within the first group.
The eyes of the players of 24 teams are looking forward to the new cup that appeared for the first time in the “Emirates 2019”, and the Qatar team was the first to carry it, while the cup has an old design, as the Australian team was the last team to carry it, in 2015, and it has not changed since 1956 in the first edition. The names of 7 teams that won the title were engraved on the base of the cup, while the new cup awaits the second champion.
Over the 67 years of the tournament, a number of legends have written their names in letters of light in the annals of history, thanks to contributions with their national teams in the continental tournament, most notably Ali Daei, the tournament’s all-time top scorer with 14 goals, who left an indelible mark on the “yellow continent.” , where he ended his international career, after scoring 109 goals for his country.
Also prominent was Younis Mahmoud, the Iraqi football legend who led his country to win the cup in 2007, and combined the Golden Shoe award for the top scorer and the award for the best player in the tournament, and the Japanese Shunsuke Nakamura, who led his country to win the title for the second and third time in 2000 and 2004, and the Australian Tim Cahill. Who led his country to its only title in 2015, and Saudi Saleh Al-Naima was one of the most prominent defenders on the continent in the seventies and eighties, and with “Al-Akhdar” he won the Asian Cup with him in 1984 and 1988.
Throughout its history, the tournament has witnessed unforgettable numbers, most notably Ali Mabkhout, our national team player, retaining the title of fastest goal, after he scored against the Bahrain national team, 14 seconds after the starting whistle, during the year 2015, while Qatari Almoez Ali scored more than one goal in one edition, in the year. 2019, where he scored 9 goals, and the Uzbek Ignatiy Nesterov participated in the tournament in 5 consecutive editions, in the years 2004, 2007, 2011, 2015 and 2019, and the Iranian Parviz Qalijkhani is the most decorated player in the tournament, as he won the title with his country 3 times, during the years 1668, 1972 and 1976.
#Dream #Glory #Haya #Asia
