كأس الاتحاد الآسيوي 2023-2024

The opportunity to become the first team from the Central Asian nation to feature in the final of the last edition of the AFC Cup will be the motivating factor for the Kyrgyz Premier League champions at the Dolen Omurzakov Stadium.

The sides had already faced off in Group A and with either team having won once, the West Zone final is set to be tight affair.

Al Ahed, seeking a second title after having emerged champions in 2019, know they need to win by a comfortable margin ahead of next week's return leg in Muscat.

The first leg of the tie will be held in Bishkek on Wednesday before the return leg in Gosford a week later as both sides set their eyes on reaching the final in what is their debut campaigns in the AFC Cup.

As the teams get set to meet in the Kyrgyz capital, the-AFC.com selects two players from each side who could prove pivotal in their quests to reach the grand finale.

The two teams will be familiar with each other’s game, having qualified together from Group A, but this time around only one of them will qualify through to the next round. The-AFC.com highlights the players who have the potential to be the difference makers in the tie.

Both sides will be aiming to create history as no team from Kyrgyz Republic or Australia have featured in the AFC Cup final before.

The-AFC.com takes a look at how the two progressed to the Inter-Zone final.

Lebanon's Al Ahed are seeking a second AFC Cup title after having emerged champions in 2019 while Al Nahda are determined to follow in the footsteps of fellow Omani club Al Seeb who won the 2022 edition.

The-AFC.com takes a look at how the sides qualified for the West Zonal final.

Australian champions Mariners played to a goalless draw against India’s Odisha FC, which took them through 4-0 on aggregate for a date with Kyrgyz Republic side Abdysh-Ata Kant in the Inter-Zone final next month.

Mikael Doka missed a first half penalty for the A-League side but it mattered little as the Australians had gone into the second leg with a comfortable 4-0 cushion from the first leg in Gosford last week.

Mariners will face Abdysh-Ata Kant from Kyrgyz Republic in the Inter-Zone final next month after Islam Ahmedov’s team completed their win over Taichung Futuro from Chinese Taipei on Wednesday.

The first leg of the Inter-Zone final will be held in Bishkek on April 17 with the return in Gosford one week later.

The result at the Nanzih Football Stadium secured Abdysh-Ata an impressive 8-1 aggregate victory, with the Kyrgyz Republic side set for a showdown against either Australia’s Central Coast Mariners or Odisha FC of India in the Inter-Zone final.

Abdysh-Ata trailed going into the break on Wednesday but turned things around to walk away as comfortable winners.