The 27-year-old ruptured the ligament in his left knee and is expected to miss most of the upcoming season, with the Chinese Super League expected to begin later this month.

There were hat-tricks, heroics and heart-warming farewells, but which player was Asia’s best of the best in the March international window?

From matches in Dubai, Dushanbe, Debrecen and more, we’ve picked 10 of the week’s best performers. Study our shortlist and don’t forget to register your vote.

The 32-year-old has returned to the Hong Kong Premier League champions for a third stint after he was released by Chinese Super League side Dalian Pro.

The Nigeria-born striker first signed for Kitchee from Eastern in 2009 and spent a season with the club before joining Tai Chung. He returned to Kitchee for a second spell in 2013 before signing for Chinese side Yanbian Funde in 2018.

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.

From the Opening Match at Auckland’s Eden Park, host to many of New Zealand’s great sporting moments, all the way through to the Final at Sydney’s Stadium Australia, site of the 2000 Olympic Games, the venues will offer a broad taste of the best of Down Under.

With just over two years to go until some of the best players in the world take to the field in Australia and New Zealand, the Host City announcement represents a major milestone for many football fans and players around the world, as well as in the preparations for the next FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2023 – which will be the first-ever co-hosted FIFA Women’s World Cup and the first edition to feature 32 teams.

Australia’s Kerr scored the second goal in a 3-0 second leg win for the English champions, for whom Korea Republic’s Ji So-yun played a late cameo role, as they romped to a 5-1 aggregate victory over 2019-2020 runners-up VfL Wolfsburg.

In addition to setting up a semi-final clash with either Bayern Munich or FC Rosengård later this month, the result was the latest success for Asia’s Europe-based contingent, who have starred in a range of competitions throughout the past week.