Only one player has scored a hat-trick in the Premier continental final since the first Asian club champions were crowned more than 50 years ago.

That remarkable feat occurred on April 22, 2000 – 20 years ago today – when Al Hilal’s on-loan Brazilian striker Sergio Ricardo scored a third-minute free-kick, a last-gasp equaliser and a decisive 103rd-minute golden goal to bring the Asian crown back to Riyadh for the second time in history.

Al Hilal’s 3-2 win over a Jubilo Iwata side featuring the likes of Masashi Nakayama and Naohiro Takahara sent a vibrant King Fahd Stadium into euphoria and gave the Saudi giants a title they would need to wait 19 years to replicate.

The former Korea Republic captain and Manchester United midfielder who won 19 major trophies in his career - is the latest icon to lend his voice in the Asian Football Confederation’s (AFC) public awareness campaign which continues to engage with millions of fans to convey educational and inspiring messages.

A record six-time winner of Uzbekistan’s Player of the Year Award, a league champion in both his homeland and China PR, and voted best player at a club which featured Roberto Carlos and Samuel Eto’o – only one of whom makes this list – Akhmedov’s career has seen him team up with footballers of global renown, and match them every step of the way.

With his professional career now in its 15th year, Akhmedov selects a team comprising the very best of his teammates, drawing on his experiences of 104 international caps and fruitful club stints at Pakhtakor, Anzhi Makhachkala, FC Krasnador and current home Shanghai SIPG.

The Panel, to be known as the Starting XI, will act in an advisory capacity on technical and development matters to the FDC, which comprises, amongst others, FFA Board Members Remo Nogarotto (FDC Chair), former Socceroo Mark Bresciano and former Westfield Matilda Amy Duggan.

The inaugural members of the Starting XI, who will serve an initial two-year term on a voluntary basis, are: Mark Viduka, Josip Skoko, Clare Polkinghorne, Ron Smith, Mark Bosnich, Paul Okon, Frank Farina, Heather Garriock, Vicki Linton, Joey Peters and Connie Selby.

Domestic action remains on hold in Kyrgyz Republic and Uzbekistan, although players from both countries featured in Belarusian Premier League action.

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Elsewhere, Ramadan got underway, Australia marked ANZAC Day and domestic action continued in Chinese Taipei, so join the-AFC.com as we round up the action on and off the pitch.

The Montenegrin’s first foray into the Asian game, however, came with a short stint in Saudi Arabia in 2006. But it is in East Asia where the now 38-year-old truly made his name and, after moving to Korea Republic’s K League in 2007, he has not looked back since.

Having found a home away from home on the other side of the world, and collected plenty of prizes along the way, Damjanovic tells the-AFC.com about his life and times in Asia and reflects on a move that has proved an unequivocal success both on and off the pitch.