Al Ahli announced that the “club administration signed a contract with the Romanian to coach the first time until the end of the current season.”

The 24-year-old, who has played three times for Korea Republic, has joined the reigning K-League champions from German second division side Darmstadt 96, where he has spent the last season-and-a-half.

Paik spent five years at Barcelona’s La Masia academy and played for Barcelona B before joining Peralada and then switching to Girona. He played six times for Girona, including three times in La Liga.

As the kick-off date for the historic 2021 edition approaches, the-AFC.com looks back at the 2020 tournament which turned out to be a thrilling affair despite the challenging circumstances.

We kicked off the series in style with fans voting Persepolis FC's Mehdi Abdi Qara as the winner of the Best Headers of 2020, Ramin Rezaeian of Al Duhail topped the Best Free-kicks, Al Nassr's Abdulrahman Al Obaid won the Best Long-Range Goals, Abderrazak Hamdallah's strike against Qatar's Al Saad on Matchday One was voted as the winner of the Best Team Goals, Persepolis' Qara topped the Best Last Minute Goals while his teammate Hamed Lak won the Best Saves.

Our next instalment looks at the goals scored by clinical finishes and invites you, the fan, to tell us which was your favourite.

Football lovers from every corner of Asia have selected a goalkeeper, three defenders and a four-man midfield in previous weeks, now it’s time to crown the tournament’s greatest ever forwards, with countless worthy contenders to choose from.

With a staggering 344 AFC Cup goals between them, we’ve selected the cream of the crop, including players hailing from Europe, Africa and South America, in our star-studded shortlist, now it’s up to you decide the final make-up of our ultimate team. Study our nominees below, and don’t forget to register your vote at the bottom of the page.

A brace from Saleh Al Shehri and further goals from Yasser Al Shahrani, Fahad Al Muwallad and Salem Al Dawsari at King Saud University Stadium steered the Green Falcons to the top of the group with 11 points from five matches.

Japan are unbeaten in their Asian Qualifiers Group F campaign for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and AFC Asian Cup China 2023, leading the standings with 15 points, with Tajikistan five behind.
Japan, who are looking to reach their seventh FIFA World Cup in a row at Qatar in 2022, scored five first-half goals to take complete control of the game against Mongolia.

But the Blue Samurai refused to take their foot off the gas, notching another nine after the break to set a new qualifying record and finish just one goal short of their all-time biggest win.

Playing their third match as an invited team in Group A of the European Qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, the reigning AFC Asian Cup champions ended their tour unbeaten after having defeated Luxembourg and Azerbaijan last week.