2000 AFC Asian Cup
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The 2000 AFC Asian Cup was the 12th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). The finals were held in Lebanon between 12 and 29 October 2000. Japan defeated defending champion Saudi Arabia in the final match in Beirut.
Qualification
42 teams participated in a preliminary tournament. It was divided into 10 groups and the first-placed team of each group thus qualified. A total of 84 games were held, starting with the Oman versus Kyrgyzstan game on 3 August 1999.
The 12 qualifying teams were:
| Country | Qualified as | Date qualification was secured | Previous appearances in tournament1, 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lebanon | Hosts | 20 December 1996 | 0 (Debut) |
| Saudi Arabia | 1996 AFC Asian Cup winners | 21 December 1996 | 4 (1984, 1988, 1992, 1996) |
| Iraq | Qualifying round Group 1 winners | 7 August 1999 | 3 (1972, 1976, 1996) |
| Indonesia | Qualifying round Group 7 winners | 20 November 1999 | 1 (1996) |
| Uzbekistan | Qualifying round Group 3 winners | 26 November 1999 | 1 (1996) |
| China | Qualifying round Group 9 winners | 29 January 2000 | 6 (1976, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996) |
| Kuwait | Qualifying round Group 5 winners | 18 February 2000 | 6 (1972, 1976, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1996) |
| Japan | Qualifying round Group 10 winners | 20 February 2000 | 3 (1988, 1992, 1996) |
| Qatar | Qualifying round Group 4 winners | 8 April 2000 | 4 (1980, 1984, 1988, 1992) |
| South Korea | Qualifying round Group 6 winners | 9 April 2000 | 8 (1956, 1960, 1964, 1972, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1996) |
| Thailand | Qualifying round Group 8 winners | 9 April 2000 | 3 (1972, 1992, 1996) |
| Iran | Qualifying round Group 2 winners | 11 April 2000 | 8 (1968, 1972, 1976, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996) |
Notes:
1 Bold indicates champion for that year
2 Italic indicates host
Stadiums
| BeirutSidonTripoli | Beirut | Sidon | Tripoli |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sports City Stadium | Saida Municipal Stadium | International Olympic Stadium | |
| Capacity: 47,799 | Capacity: 22,600 | Capacity: 22,400 | |
Squads
Tournament summary
Lebanon participated in the country's first ever football competition in the history as host, but began disappointingly, losing 0–4 to Iran. Lebanon sought to reinvigorate the team against Iraq and Thailand, but all ended up in just draws, and Lebanon finished bottom in the group, the first host nation since Qatar 1988 to not progress from the group stage. Iran and Iraq managed to survive in the group A with seven and four points respectively, and Thailand took the third, but did not progress due to inferior points, having won no match in their group. Group B saw South Korea failed to achieve a top two finish, falling behind group winner China and Kuwait, but qualified as the best third place team, with the team's only win was against Indonesia. Indonesia was the only team to not score a single goal in the tournament, being beaten by South Korea and China, and a goalless draw with Kuwait. Group C witnessed Uzbekistan to become the worst-performed team in the tournament, being heavily beaten 1–8 by Japan and 0–5 by defending champions Saudi Arabia. The Japanese scrambled to top the group with a famous 4–1 win over the Saudis, though Saudi Arabia would go on to progress together after an unpromising group stage performance. Qatar, another participant in the group, finished in third and progressed thanked for one point ahead of Thailand, having drawn in all three matches.
The quarter-finals saw Iran lost 1–2 to South Korea by a golden goal of Lee Dong-gook, and the same happened in Saudi Arabia's victory over Kuwait, also by a golden goal of Nawaf Al-Temyat. China and Japan easily passed through their Arab rivals Qatar and Iraq, with 3–1 and 4–1 wins respectively, to set up an entirely East Asian affair in the semi-finals, with Saudi Arabia being the only non-East Asian team to be here.
The first semi-finals saw Saudi Arabia sealed the victory over the South Koreans, with two goals by Talal Al-Meshal at 76' and 80' meant Lee Dong-gook's late equalizer was too little, too late. Japan beat China in a thriller in Beirut, 3–2, to once again face the Saudis in the final. In the third place match, South Korea won bronze with a 1–0 win over China.
The final in Beirut was filled with majority of Saudi supporters, and was seen as the rematch of the 1992 final and earlier group stage encounter. Hamzah Idris had a chance to take the Saudis ahead of Japan at 10', but he missed the opportunity. Eventually, the missing penalty was what the Saudis regretted the most, because Shigeyoshi Mochizuki, who had accidentally given the Saudis the failed opportunity on the penalty earlier, became the hero of Japan with a goal in 30'. Saudi attempt proved to be fruitless, and Japan won the game by just one goal margin, to conquer its second Asian trophy, repeating Japan's victory over Saudi Arabia eight years ago. Subsequently, Japan, the winner, automatically qualified for the 2004 AFC Asian Cup.
First round
All times are Lebanon summer time (UTC+3).
Group A
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Iran | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 1 | +5 | 7 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | Iraq | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | +1 | 4 | |
| 3 | Thailand | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4 | −2 | 2 | |
| 4 | Lebanon (H) | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 7 | −4 | 2 |
Group B
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | China | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 2 | +4 | 5 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | Kuwait | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | +1 | 5 | |
| 3 | South Korea | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 3 | +2 | 4 | |
| 4 | Indonesia | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 7 | −7 | 1 |
| South Korea | 2–2 | China |
|---|---|---|
| Lee Young-pyo 30' Noh Jung-yoon 58' | Su Maozhen 36' Fan Zhiyi 66' (pen.) |
| South Korea | 0–1 | Kuwait |
|---|---|---|
| Al-Huwaidi 43' |
| South Korea | 3–0 | Indonesia |
|---|---|---|
| Lee Dong-gook 30', 76', 90+1' |
Group C
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Japan | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 13 | 3 | +10 | 7 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | Saudi Arabia | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 4 | +2 | 4 | |
| 3 | Qatar | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3 | |
| 4 | Uzbekistan | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 14 | −12 | 1 |
| Saudi Arabia | 1–4 | Japan |
|---|---|---|
| Morioka 90+1' (o.g.) | Yanagisawa 26' Takahara 39' Nanami 54' Ono 90' |
| Qatar | 1–1 | Uzbekistan |
|---|---|---|
| Gholam 61' | Qosimov 73' |
| Japan | 8–1 | Uzbekistan |
|---|---|---|
| Morishima 7' Nishizawa 14', 25', 49' Takahara 18', 20', 57' Kitajima 79' | Lushan 29' |
| Saudi Arabia | 5–0 | Uzbekistan |
|---|---|---|
| Al-Otaibi 18' Al-Shalhoub 35', 78', 86' Al-Temyat 88' |
| Japan | 1–1 | Qatar |
|---|---|---|
| Nishizawa 61' | Al-Obaidly 22' |
Third-placed qualifiers
At the end of the first stage, a comparison was made between the third placed teams of each group. The two best third-placed teams advanced to the quarter-finals.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Korea | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 3 | +2 | 4 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | Qatar | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3 | |
| 3 | Thailand | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4 | −2 | 2 |
South Korea and Qatar, the two best third-placed teams, qualified for the quarter-finals.
Knockout stage
All times are Lebanon summer time (UTC+3)
Extra times were played under the golden goal rule.
| Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Final | ||||||||
| 23 October – Sidon | ||||||||||
| China | 3 | |||||||||
| 26 October – Beirut | ||||||||||
| Qatar | 1 | |||||||||
| China | 2 | |||||||||
| 24 October – Beirut | ||||||||||
| Japan | 3 | |||||||||
| Japan | 4 | |||||||||
| 29 October – Beirut | ||||||||||
| Iraq | 1 | |||||||||
| Japan | 1 | |||||||||
| 23 October – Tripoli | ||||||||||
| Saudi Arabia | 0 | |||||||||
| Iran | 1 | |||||||||
| 26 October – Beirut | ||||||||||
| South Korea (a.e.t.) | 2 | |||||||||
| South Korea | 1 | |||||||||
| 24 October – Beirut | ||||||||||
| Saudi Arabia | 2 | Third place | ||||||||
| Kuwait | 2 | |||||||||
| 29 October – Beirut | ||||||||||
| Saudi Arabia (a.e.t.) | 3 | |||||||||
| China | 0 | |||||||||
| South Korea | 1 | |||||||||
Quarter-finals
| Iran | 1–2 (a.e.t./g.g.) | South Korea |
|---|---|---|
| Bagheri 71' | Kim Sang-sik 90' Lee Dong-gook 99' |
| Kuwait | 2–3 (a.e.t./g.g.) | Saudi Arabia |
|---|---|---|
| Bashar Abdullah 62' Al-Huwaidi 68' | Al-Temyat 45+1' 109' Al-Meshal 72' |
Semi-finals
| South Korea | 1–2 | Saudi Arabia |
|---|---|---|
| Lee Dong-gook 90+1' | Al-Meshal 76', 80' |
Third place play-off
Final
| Japan | 1–0 | Saudi Arabia |
|---|---|---|
| Mochizuki 30' |
Statistics
Goalscorers
With six goals, Lee Dong-Gook is the top scorer in the tournament. In total, 77 goals were scored by 43 different players, with two of them credited as own goals.
6 goals
5 goals
3 goals
- China Qi Hong
- China Yang Chen
- Iran Ali Daei
- Japan Hiroshi Nanami
- Saudi Arabia Talal Al-Meshal
- Saudi Arabia Mohammad Al-Shalhoub
- Saudi Arabia Nawaf Al-Temyat
2 goals
- China Li Ming
- Iran Karim Bagheri
- Iran Hamid Estili
- Iraq Sabah Jeayer
- Japan Tomokazu Myojin
- Kuwait Jasem Al-Huwaidi
- Thailand Sakesan Pituratana
1 goal
- China Fan Zhiyi
- China Shen Si
- China Su Maozhen
- Iraq Qahtan Chathir
- Iraq Abbas Obeid
- Iraq Haidar Mahmoud
- Japan Hideaki Kitajima
- Japan Shigeyoshi Mochizuki
- Japan Hiroaki Morishima
- Japan Shinji Ono
- Japan Atsushi Yanagisawa
- South Korea Kim Sang-sik
- South Korea Lee Young-pyo
- South Korea Noh Jung-yoon
- Kuwait Bashar Abdullah
- Lebanon Abbas Chahrour
- Lebanon Luís Fernandes
- Lebanon Moussa Hojeij
- Qatar Mohammed Salem Al-Enazi
- Qatar Abdulnasser Al-Obaidly
- Qatar Mohammed Gholam
- Saudi Arabia Marzouk Al-Otaibi
- Uzbekistan Sergey Lushan
- Uzbekistan Mirjalol Qosimov
Own goal
- China Fan Zhiyi (for Japan)
- Japan Ryuzo Morioka (for Saudi Arabia)
Awards
Most Valuable Player
Top scorer
Best Defender
Best Goalkeeper
Fair Play Award
Team of the Tournament
External links
- . Archived from on 6 December 2000.