1ST ASIAN CHAMPIONSHIP
Since Hong Kong played a pivotal role in the formation of the AFC, it was awarded the right to host the first Asian Cup. As the hosts, Hong Kong qualified automatically to the finals. Seven of the twelve affiliated national association divided into three qualifying zones. Israel advanced to the final round when Afghanistan and Pakistan refused to play. Korea Republic qualified easily winning all their games. Vietnam struggled a beat Malaysia before putting them away with a convincing 4-0 win. The finals were played on a league basis and was very well attended by the enthusiastic Hong Kong public. Hong Kong opened the tournament with a game against Israel which they were very unlucky to lose, but Israel were generally disappointing as much was expected from them. Korea Republic were crowned champions when they won the crucial tie against Israel 2-1. Three second-half goals kept the 25,000 football fans in Hong Kong on their feet. South Korea struck first (Woo Sang Koon 53' and Soung Rak-Woon 65') before Israel who were the runners-up replied with a solitary goal scored by Nahum Stelmach in the 71st minute. Hong Kong and Vietnam took third and fourth place, respectively. |
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| CENTRAL ZONE |
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| GROUP 2 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TEAM | P | W | D | L | GF:GA | PTS. |
|
Malaysia |
4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 15:11 | 5 |
|
Vietnam SR |
2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 7:3 | 3 |
|
Cambodia |
2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4:12 | 0 |
|
[1] |
Hong Kong |
Malaysia vs. Cambodia |
9:2 |
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|
[2] |
Hong Kong |
Cambodia vs. Malaysia |
2:3 |
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|
[3] |
Hong Kong |
Malaysia vs. Vietnam SR |
3:3 |
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[4] |
Hong Kong |
Vietnam SR vs. Malaysia |
4:0 |
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Last updated on Wednesday, June 11, 2008