2004 AFC Asian Cup
In-game article clicks load inline without leaving the challenge.
The 2004 AFC Asian Cup was the 13th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It was held from 17 July to 7 August 2004 in China. The defending champions Japan defeated China in the final in Beijing.
The tournament was marked by Saudi Arabia's unexpected failure to even make it out of the first round; a surprisingly good performance by Bahrain, which finished in fourth place; Jordan, which reached the quarterfinals in its first appearance and Indonesia, which gained their historical first Asian Cup win against Qatar. The final match between China and Japan was marked by post-match rioting by Chinese fans near the north gate of Beijing Workers' Stadium, in part due to controversial officiating and anti-Japanese sentiment resulting from historical tensions.
Venues
| BeijingChongqingJinanChengdu | Beijing | Chongqing | Jinan | Chengdu |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Workers' Stadium | Chongqing Olympic Sports Center | Shandong Sports Center | Chengdu Longquanyi Football Stadium | |
| Capacity: 72,000 | Capacity: 58,680 | Capacity: 43,700 | Capacity: 27,333 | |
Qualification
The lowest-ranked 20 teams were placed in 6 preliminary qualifying groups of 3 and one group of 2, with the group winners joining the remaining 21 teams in 7 groups of 4. The top two of each of these groups qualified for the finals in China.
| Country | Qualified as | Date qualification was secured | Previous appearances in tournament1, 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| China | Hosts | 28 October 2000 | 7 (1976, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000) |
| Japan | 2000 AFC Asian Cup winners | 26 October 2000 | 4 (1988, 1992, 1996, 2000) |
| Kuwait | Qualifying round Group B winners | 5 October 2003 | 7 (1972, 1976, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1996, 2000) |
| Saudi Arabia | Qualifying round Group C winners | 15 October 2003 | 5 (1984, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000) |
| Indonesia | Qualifying round Group C runners-up | 15 October 2003 | 2 (1996, 2000) |
| Oman | Qualifying round Group E winners | 21 October 2003 | 0 (Debut) |
| Iraq | Qualifying round Group F winners | 22 October 2003 | 4 (1972, 1976, 1996, 2000) |
| Bahrain | Qualifying round Group F runners-up | 22 October 2003 | 1 (1988) |
| South Korea | Qualifying round Group E runners-up | 24 October 2003 | 9 (1956, 1960, 1964, 1972, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1996, 2000) |
| Jordan | Qualifying round Group D runners-up | 18 November 2003 | 0 (Debut) |
| United Arab Emirates | Qualifying round Group G runners-up | 18 November 2003 | 5 (1980, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996) |
| Uzbekistan | Qualifying round Group A winners | 19 November 2003 | 2 (1996, 2000) |
| Qatar | Qualifying round Group B runners-up | 19 November 2003 | 5 (1980, 1984, 1988, 1992, 2000) |
| Iran | Qualifying round Group D winners | 19 November 2003 | 9 (1968, 1972, 1976, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000) |
| Thailand | Qualifying round Group A runners-up | 21 November 2003 | 4 (1972, 1992, 1996, 2000) |
| Turkmenistan | Qualifying round Group G winners | 28 November 2003 | 0 (Debut) |
Notes:
1 Bold indicates champion for that year
2 Italic indicates host
Seeds
| Pot A | Pot B | Pot C | Pot D |
|---|---|---|---|
| China Japan South Korea Saudi Arabia | Iran Iraq Kuwait Qatar | Indonesia Thailand United Arab Emirates Uzbekistan | Bahrain Jordan Oman Turkmenistan |
Squads
Tournament summary
This competition saw a huge number of surprises. The first surprise named Bahrain was in group A, which, despite being just its second tournament, held on China and fellow neighbor Qatar before beating Indonesia 3–1, with the Hubail brothers Mohamed and Ala'a instrumental in bringing Bahrain to the quarter-finals. Host China, after a shock draw to Bahrain, easily progressed to the next round after thrashing Indonesia 5–0 before Xu Yunlong scored the decisive goal in China's hard fought win over Qatar to process.
In group B, Jordan emerged as a second surprise, as the country just made its debut in the competition. Jordan surprised the whole tournament by two draws to the United Arab Emirates and, especially, a successful goalless draw to South Korea which had already finished in fourth place at the 2002 FIFA World Cup earlier, between that, Jordan shocked Kuwait with two late goals to seal a 2–0 victory, thus finishing second and progressed to the next round alongside South Korea, which, after being held by Jordan, decisively beat Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates to progress.
The two other debutants were Turkmenistan and Oman in group C and D surprised by not finishing bottom in their group, though they failed to progress. Instead, it was the two experienced Saudi Arabia and Thailand which disappointed most of fans, finishing bottom after disastrous performances. In group C, Uzbekistan also surprised by topping the group with three straight 1–0 win while Japan and Iran were able to progress in group D after a final goalless draw and better result than Oman. Iraq was the other qualifier in group C, after beating both Turkmenistan and Saudi Arabia only by one goal margin.
The quarter-finals saw Jordan caused significant problem for Japan, and Jordan was thought to have almost qualified for the semi-finals in the penalty shootout. However, four straight misses later cost Jordan's semi-final dream to end. Uzbekistan and Bahrain held on in a 2–2 draw and Bahrain prevailed after penalty shootout. Host China easily crushed Iraq 3–0, with Zheng Zhi scored two penalties to take Iraq home, while South Korea and Iran created the most phenomenon match in the tournament, an insane thriller where Iran prevailed 4–3 in what would be perceived as one of the greatest Asian Cup matches in both this tournament and in history.
The first semi-final saw Iran and host China battling for the final, with both being held 1–1, despite Iran was down to ten men. China eventually won in penalty shootout. The other semi-final was another insane 4-3 thriller between Bahrain and Japan, in a match that featured 4 lead changes, a Bahraini goal to take a 3-2 lead in the 85th minute, and a Japanese equalizer in extra time. The Japanese eventually won after extra times thanked for a goal by Keiji Tamada in early minutes of the first half of extra time, thus sent Japan to the final against host China. Iran overcame Bahrain in a consolidating third place encounter, 4–2, to acquire bronze.
Iran was also a major storyline in this tournament due to several strange storylines that developed over the course of the tournament. After comfortably defeating Thailand 3-0 in their first match, they shockingly fell 2-0 behind tournament debutants Oman before fighting back to earn a 2-2 draw in the 90+3 minute. During that match, Iranian teammates Rahman Rezaei and Ali Badavi got into a heated exchange and would each slap the other in the face before being separated by officials. After managing to advance with a 0-0 draw against eventual champions Japan, Iran made headlines before their quarterfinal match against South Korea when they missed their flight and spent the night before the match sleeping at the airport. Despite this, Iran went on to upset the favorite South Korea side, with Ali Karimi's standout performance in that match being a critical moment on his way to winning Asian Player of the Year for 2004. However, Iran's very next match against China would grab significant headlines again, due to a combination of multiple controversial calls by Lebanese referee Talaat Najm, as well as multiple notable mistakes by Iranian players.
The final in Beijing saw China lose to Japan, with a controversial handball goal by Koji Nakata that sealed the game. The win meant Japan had successfully defended their title they achieved four years ago. The outcome frustrated many Chinese supporters, who ended up rioting outside Workers' Stadium over referee's controversial decision allowing the handball goal of Koji Nakata.
Officials
Referees
- Australia Mark Shield
- Bahrain Abdul Rahman Al-Delawar
- Benin Coffi Codjia
- China Lu Jun
- Iran Masoud Moradi
- Japan Toru Kamikawa
- South Korea Kwon Jong-chul
- Kuwait Saad Kamil Al-Fadhli
- Lebanon Talaat Najm
- Malaysia Subkhiddin Mohd Salleh
- Saudi Arabia Naser Al-Hamdan
- Singapore Shamsul Maidin
- Syria Mohammed Kousa
- Thailand Chaiwat Kunsata
- United Arab Emirates Fareed Al-Marzouqi
- Uzbekistan Ravshan Irmatov
Assistant Referees
- Australia Nathan Gibson
- Bangladesh Mahbubur Mahbub
- China Liu Tiejun
- Hong Kong Yau Tak Lee
- India Sankar Komaleeswaran
- Indonesia Aries Soetomo
- Iraq Khalil Ibrahim Abbas
- Jordan Fathi Arabati
- Maldives Mohamed Saeed
- Oman Ali Ahmed Al Qasimi
- Palestine Fayez Al Basha
- Qatar Ali Al Khalifi
- Sri Lanka Chandrajith Marasinghe
- Turkmenistan Begench Allaberdyev
- Tunisia Taoufik Adjengui
- Vietnam Trương Thế Toàn
First round
All times are China standard time (UTC+8)
Group A
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | China (H) | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 2 | +6 | 7 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | Bahrain | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 4 | +2 | 5 | |
| 3 | Indonesia | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 9 | −6 | 3 | |
| 4 | Qatar | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 | −2 | 1 |
| Indonesia | 0–5 | China |
|---|---|---|
| Shao Jiayi 25', 66' Hao Haidong 40' Li Ming 51' Li Yi 80' |
| China | 1–0 | Qatar |
|---|---|---|
| Xu Yunlong 77' |
Group B
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Korea | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 | +6 | 7 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | Jordan | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | +2 | 5 | |
| 3 | Kuwait | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 7 | −4 | 3 | |
| 4 | United Arab Emirates | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 | −4 | 1 |
| Kuwait | 3–1 | United Arab Emirates |
|---|---|---|
| B. Abdullah 24' Al-Mutawa 39' (pen.) Saeed 45' (o.g.) | Rashid 47' |
| South Korea | 4–0 | Kuwait |
|---|---|---|
| Lee Dong-gook 25', 41' Cha Du-ri 45+1' Ahn Jung-hwan 75' |
Group C
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Uzbekistan | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | +3 | 9 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | Iraq | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 4 | +1 | 6 | |
| 3 | Turkmenistan | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 6 | −2 | 1 | |
| 4 | Saudi Arabia | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | −2 | 1 |
| Saudi Arabia | 2–2 | Turkmenistan |
|---|---|---|
| Al-Qahtani 9' (pen.), 59' | N. Bayramov 6' Kulyýew 90+3' |
| Iraq | 0–1 | Uzbekistan |
|---|---|---|
| Qosimov 21' |
| Turkmenistan | 2–3 | Iraq |
|---|---|---|
| V. Bayramov 14' Kulyýew 85' | H. M. Mohammed 12' Farhan 80' Munir 88' |
| Saudi Arabia | 1–2 | Iraq |
|---|---|---|
| Al-Montashari 57' | Akram 51' Mahmoud 86' |
Group D
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Japan | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 1 | +4 | 7 | Advance to knockout stage |
| 2 | Iran | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 2 | +3 | 5 | |
| 3 | Oman | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | +1 | 4 | |
| 4 | Thailand | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 9 | −8 | 0 |
Knockout stage
All times are China standard time (UTC+8)
| Quarter-finals | Semi-finals | Final | ||||||||
| 30 July – Beijing | ||||||||||
| China | 3 | |||||||||
| 3 August – Beijing | ||||||||||
| Iraq | 0 | |||||||||
| China (p) | 1 (4) | |||||||||
| 31 July – Jinan | ||||||||||
| Iran | 1 (3) | |||||||||
| South Korea | 3 | |||||||||
| 7 August – Beijing | ||||||||||
| Iran | 4 | |||||||||
| China | 1 | |||||||||
| 30 July – Chengdu | ||||||||||
| Japan | 3 | |||||||||
| Uzbekistan | 2 (3) | |||||||||
| 3 August – Jinan | ||||||||||
| Bahrain (p) | 2 (4) | |||||||||
| Bahrain | 3 | |||||||||
| 31 July – Chongqing | ||||||||||
| Japan (a.e.t.) | 4 | Third place | ||||||||
| Japan (p) | 1 (4) | |||||||||
| 6 August – Beijing | ||||||||||
| Jordan | 1 (3) | |||||||||
| Iran | 4 | |||||||||
| Bahrain | 2 | |||||||||
Quarter-finals
| Uzbekistan | 2–2 (a.e.t.) | Bahrain |
|---|---|---|
| Geynrikh 60' Shishelov 86' | A. Hubail 71', 76' | |
| Penalties | ||
| Fyodorov Djeperov Geynrikh Bikmaev Koshelev | 3–4 | Ali Juma Baba Farhan A. Hubail |
| Japan | 1–1 (a.e.t.) | Jordan |
|---|---|---|
| Suzuki 14' | Shelbaieh 11' | |
| Penalties | ||
| Nakamura Alex Fukunishi Nakata Suzuki Nakazawa Miyamoto | 4–3 | Abu Zema Al-Awadat Aqel Al-Shboul Ibrahim Al-Zboun Bani Yaseen |
| South Korea | 3–4 | Iran |
|---|---|---|
| Seol Ki-hyeon 16' Lee Dong-gook 25' Kim Nam-il 68' | Karimi 10', 20', 77' Park Jin-seop 51' (o.g.) |
Semi-finals
| China | 1–1 (a.e.t.) | Iran |
|---|---|---|
| Shao Jiayi 18' | Alavi 38' | |
| Penalties | ||
| Zheng Zhi Zhao Junzhe Li Xiaopeng Sun Xiang Shao Jiayi | 4–3 | Daei Mahdavikia Nekounam Mobali Golmohammadi |
Third place playoff
Final
Statistics
Goalscorers
With five goals, A'ala Hubail and Ali Karimi are the top scorers in the tournament. In total, 96 goals were scored by 58 different players, with two of them credited as own goals.
5 goals
4 goals
3 goals
2 goals
- Bahrain Husain Ali
- Bahrain Mohamed Hubail
- Bahrain Talal Yousef
- China Hao Haidong
- China Li Ming
- Iran Javad Nekounam
- Japan Takashi Fukunishi
- Japan Shunsuke Nakamura
- Japan Koji Nakata
- South Korea Ahn Jung-hwan
- Saudi Arabia Yasser Al-Qahtani
- Turkmenistan Begench Kuliyev
- Uzbekistan Alexander Geynrikh
- Uzbekistan Mirjalol Qosimov
1 goal
- Bahrain Saleh Farhan
- Bahrain Duaij Naser
- China Li Jinyu
- China Li Yi
- China Xu Yunlong
- Indonesia Elie Aiboy
- Indonesia Ponaryo Astaman
- Indonesia Budi Sudarsono
- Iran Mohammad Alavi
- Iran Reza Enayati
- Iran Mohammad Nosrati
- Iraq Nashat Akram
- Iraq Razzaq Farhan
- Iraq Younis Mahmoud
- Iraq Hawar Mulla Mohammed
- Iraq Qusay Munir
- Japan Takayuki Suzuki
- Jordan Anas Al-Zboun
- Jordan Khaled Saad
- Jordan Mahmoud Shelbaieh
- South Korea Cha Du-ri
- South Korea Seol Ki-hyeon
- South Korea Kim Nam-il
- Kuwait Bashar Abdullah
- Kuwait Bader Al-Mutawa
- Qatar Magid Mohamed
- Qatar Wesam Rizik
- Saudi Arabia Hamad Al-Montashari
- Thailand Sutee Suksomkit
- Turkmenistan Nazar Bayramov
- Turkmenistan Vladimir Bayramov
- United Arab Emirates Mohamed Rashid
- Uzbekistan Vladimir Shishelov
Own goals
- South Korea Park Jin-seop (1) (for Iran)
- Thailand Rangsan Viwatchaichok (1) (for Oman)
- United Arab Emirates Basheer Saeed (1) (for Kuwait)
Awards
Most Valuable Player
Top Scorer
Fair-Play Award
Team of the Tournament
| Goalkeepers | Defenders | Midfielders | Forwards |
|---|---|---|---|
| Japan Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi | Japan Tsuneyasu Miyamoto China Zheng Zhi Japan Yuji Nakazawa | Iran Mehdi Mahdavikia China Zhao Junzhe Japan Shunsuke Nakamura Bahrain Talal Yousef China Shao Jiayi | Iran Ali Karimi Bahrain A'ala Hubail |
Marketing
Official match ball
The official match ball for the tournament was the Adidas Roteiro.
Mascot
The tournament's mascot was Bei Bei, a monkey character based on Journey to the West's Sun Wukong.
Official song
The AFC selected "宣言 (Declaration)", "Take Me To The Sky" (English Version Title) by Chinese singer Tiger Hu as the tournament's official song.
Controversies
Like other sports events, the Asian Cup 2004 was publicised as evidence of China's economic and athletic progress, being referred to by some as a prelude to the 2008 Summer Olympics. Many Chinese see the tournament as a success and take great pride in having showcased such an important sporting event in advance of the Olympic Games. However, the Japanese media and many other international observers have pointed out bad manners on the part of Chinese fans, and sparse attendance at the tournament, raising questions on China's ability to hold such sporting events. [citation needed]
There was also significant controversy over the refereeing of various matches in the tournament relating to the host China PR, specifically on China 3-0 Iraq and China 1-1 Iran. The match between China and Iraq featured a controversial penalty awarded to Zheng Zhi, while the two red cards awarded to Iran and the neglection of Zhang Yaokun's deliberate violent conduct during the second half of the match was also questioned by authorities such as the head coach of Islamic Republic of Iran.
Throughout the tournament, most Chinese fans in the stadia expressed anti-Japanese sentiments by drowning out the Japanese national anthem, displaying political banners and booing whenever Japan got the ball, regardless of the score or opponent. This was reported by the international media, and was aggravated when Koji Nakata apparently knocked in the ball with his right hand in the final. The PRC government responded by calling for restraint and increasing police numbers to maintain order. The Japanese government also called on the PRC to ensure the safety of Japanese fans, while specifically asking Japanese nationals or people of Japanese origin to not display any form of excessive pride. Despite the Chinese government's campaign, a riot started by Chinese fans broke out near the north gate of the Workers' Stadium, though reports differ as to the extent of the riot. As a result, some media groups have said that displays of "excessive Chinese nationalism during the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics have become a cause for concern for Chinese officials".
External links
- (Archived)