AFC Cup 2017 - Archive Videos AR

A 3-2 aggregate victory over Singapore's Home United ensured the Filipino club became the AFC Cup's first-ever ASEAN Zone champions, with their 2-0 victory in Bacolod on August 9, 2017, sealing their place in the tournament's record books.

To commemorate the achievement, the-AFC.com spoke exclusively to the Ceres goalscorers, OJ Porteria and Manny Ott, to reflect on a magical night at Panaad Park.

This will be the first AFC Cup final in history to witness a side from Turkmenistan after Altyn Asyr knocked out DPR Korea's 4.25. On the other hand Air Force Club are one win away from becoming the first club to ever win the AFC Cup three consecutive times.

One year ago, Air Force Club had to defeat another team from central Asia, FC Istiklol of Tajikistan, in the final to lift the trophy.

Below are the four nominated strikes from the 2017 AFC Cup tournament, with the winner in bold.

1. Sunil Chhetri (JSW Bengaluru vs Maziya Sports and Recreation)
2. Nazmi Faiz (Beoungket Angkor vs Johor Darul Ta’zim)
3. Mohanad Abdulraheem (Al Zawraa vs Al Jaish)
4. Iain Ramsey (Ceres Negros vs Tampines Rovers)

Watch the video below for Nazmi's winning effort as well as the three other goals that made our shortlist.

The four selected goals are as follows:

1. Sunil Chhetri (JSW Bengaluru vs Maziya Sports and Recreation)
2. Nazmi Faiz (Beoungket Angkor vs Johor Darul Ta’zim)
3. Mohanad Abdulraheem (Al Zawraa vs Al Jaish)
4. Iain Ramsay (Ceres Negros vs Tampines Rovers)

Watch the video below and place your vote at the AFC Cup’s official Facebook or Twitter accounts and the winner will be announced in the coming days.

But, in stark contrast to the team that bagged 27 goals en route to the title last year, the Baghdad club’s success in the 2017 edition has been built on solidity at the back, and so it proved again at Hisor Central Stadium as the hosts lost their second final in three years.

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Istiklol find no way past

Mohsin netted the winner as Air Force Club overcame Tajikistan’s Istiklol at Hisor Central Stadium in Saturday’s final.

His third goal of the campaign finished a swift attacking move with a left-footed half-volley to hand the team a valuable 1-0 victory.

The visitors were on the backfoot for extended spells of the first half and defended for their lives before turning the tie around after the restart and dominating the second half.

Their attacking intent was rewarded by Mohsin’s 68th minute strike after club captain Hammadi Ahmed had missed a penalty kick 14 minutes earlier.

“We were not so good in the first half, but after the break we regrouped and put in a much better performance. We missed a penalty kick but eventually scored the all-important goal,” commented Mohsin on his team’s performance on the night.

“It is a historic achievement for us and for Iraqi football. I am delighted that we were able to bring joy to our fans back in Iraq.”

After a goalless first half, Air Force Club spurned a glorious opportunity to take the lead shortly after the restart as captain Hammadi Ahmed’s penalty was saved by Nikola Stosic.

But Mohsin then fired home a stunning effort midway through the half and the hosts were unable to respond as Air Force Club claimed back-to-back titles and relegated Istiklol to a second runners-up spot in three years.

The defending champions started brightly and almost opened the scoring in the sixth minute when Syrian midfielder Zaher Al Medani headed against the woodwork from Humam Tareq’s corner from the left.

After spending much of the first 20 minutes on the back foot, Istiklol came back into the game and top scorer Manuchehr Dzhalilov had his first sight on goal midway through the half, only to see his effort on the turn blocked as Air Force Club cleared to safety.

As the first half wore on it was the Tajik team who were controlling the majority of the possession and Dzhalilov fired over from the penalty spot after a cutback from Oleksandr Stetsenko from the right byline six minutes before the interval.

Eight minutes after the restart, Air Force Club were awarded a penalty when Istiklol captain Fatkhullo Fatkhuloev upended Tareq as he tried to get on the end of an Ali Bahjat cross from the left and the referee pointed to the spot.

But goalkeeper Stosic proved the hero as he dived full stretch to his right to deny last year’s top scorer Ahmed and delight the vocal home support inside Hisor Central Stadium.

Air Force Club then did take the lead in the 68th minute when Ahmed laid back Sameh Saeed’s cross from the right for Mohsin to emphatically finish from 12 yards for his third goal of the campaign.

The lively Tareq then curled a free-kick from just outside the box narrowly wide with 15 minutes remaining as the defending champions looked to put the game beyond their opponents.

As the clock ticked down Istiklol pushed for the equaliser but Air Force Club, who had kept six clean sheets in 10 games, remained firm at the back as the hosts were unable to get a clear sight on goal.

Ahmed had a chance to add a second in stoppage time but failed to connect with Tareq’s cross from the left, before he blazed over from close in soon after but Air Force Club saw out the game to become just the third side to retain the AFC Cup.

The striker finished a goal ahead of Gabriel Guerra of Malaysia’s Johor Darul Ta’zim, Bienvenido Maranon of the Philippines’ Ceres Negros and Stipe Plazibat of Singapore’s Home United.

With 4.25 SC eliminated from the tournament at the Inter-Zone semi-final stage by India’s JSW Bengaluru, Kim’s involvement in his maiden AFC Cup was brought to a premature end.

The Iraqi side were the away team in the one-legged final at Hisor Central Stadium but were stronger throughout and missed a penalty early in the second half when Hammadi Ahmed’s effort was saved by Nikola Stosic.

But Emad Mohsin proved the hero in the 68th minute as his powerful left-foot effort found the back of the net and meant Air Force Club became the third team – after Jordan’s Al Faisaly and Kuwait SC – to win back-to-back AFC Cups.

“It was a difficult match in the opposition’s home,” said Syrian Al Sayed (pictured above, right), who is currently in his second spell in charge of the club after taking over in August.

“The penalty kick could have been the turning point, but the players were mentally strong and kept their concentration. I am very proud of my players.”

Air Force Club won the tournament at the first attempt last year, amassing 27 goals in just 12 games with captain Ahmed finishing as top scorer on 16, including the only goal in the final against India’s JSW Bengaluru.

It has been a different story this year, though, as the defence of their title had seen them score just 10 goals in 10 games prior to Saturday’s final.

But their success has been built on a solid backline, with the side conceding only five goals throughout the tournament as the victory over Istiklol became their seventh clean sheet in 11 games.

Istiklol were handed the benefit of playing the one-legged final at home and 20,000 supporters packed out Hisor Central Stadium to create a fabulous atmosphere as their side aimed to make up for the disappointment of losing 1-0 to Johor Darul Ta’zim of Malaysia in the 2015 final.

But it was not to be as Emad Mohsin’s strike midway through the second half, after Air Force Club’s Hammadi Ahmed had earlier missed a penalty, proved the only goal of the game as the holders retained the title they won 12 months ago following victory over India’s JSW Bengaluru.

“It’s a pity we lost the final at home, our second final in the last three seasons, because we wanted to bring happiness to our fans,” said Mukhamadiev.

“We began the match well and created some chances, but our opponents played very well in defence and didn’t allow us shots on goal.

“We lost our concentration in the second half and Air Force Club took advantage of this to score the winning goal of the tournament.”

The defeat proved to be the first of the campaign for Istiklol, who had previously won five from five at home en route to the final.

Dzhalilov went into Saturday’s showpiece event with holders Air Force Club as Istiklol’s main threat in front of goal, but was unable to add to his tally as the visitors eventually ran out 1-0 winners.

The striker’s biggest chance fell towards the end of the first half when he fired over from 12 yards, but failure to find the back of the net against the tournament’s strongest defence cannot take the gloss off what has been a superb AFC Cup campaign for Dzhalilov.

It wasn’t until the fourth game of the competition that Dzhalilov found his scoring boots, when he bagged a brace in a 4-1 victory at the Kyrgyz Republic’s FC Alay.

The forward then scored a hat-trick on his return to the Kyrgyz Republic two weeks later as Istiklol saw off Dordoi FC 5-1.

After progressing to the Inter-Zone semi-finals as Group D winners, next up for the Central Asia Zonal champions were Ceres Negros of the Philippines.

Dzhalilov scored his best goal of the campaign in the first leg in Hisor as he rocketed in an effort from more than 20 yards out to make it 3-0, before adding his second late on in a 4-0 victory.

That goal proved to be the number 63’s last of the tournament although he did also tee up Dmitri Barkov for Istiklol’s crucial second in the 2-2 Inter-Zone final draw with India’s JSW Bengaluru as the Tajik champions advanced to a second final in three years following a 3-2 aggregate win.

The 2017 AFC Cup campaign would end in heartbreak for Dzhalilov, though, as Istiklol suffered their first defeat of the competition after Air Force Club’s second successive 1-0 victory in the final.

Emad Mohsin, meanwhile, was named Man of the Match after the striker scored the game’s decisive goal midway through the second half.

Captain Hammadi Ahmed teed up Mohsin after a delivery from Sameh Saeed from the right and the forward lashed the ball home for the only goal of the match.

The strike was Mohsin’s third of the campaign after winners against Bahrain’s Al Hidd in the group stage and, even more importantly, domestic rivals Al Zawraa in the second leg of the West Asia Zone semi-final.

Photo: Lagardère Sports