AFC Cup

It will be the first meeting between the sides in the AFC Cup with both teams fancying their chances of winning.

The West Zone Semi-finals see Kuwait’s Arabi SC take on Oman’s Al Seeb, while the Riffa derby will be played out for the first time on the continental stage between East Riffa and Al Riffa.

Indonesia's Makassar are very much a team in form, having opened their Liga 1 season with two wins and a draw while Malaysia's Kedah have been struggling domestically since sealing their place in the ASEAN Zonal Semi-finals in June.

The 30-year-old, who missed a penalty earlier, went on to deliver a sublime performance as he created the fourth goal before scoring the ultimate individual goal, embarking on a powerful solo run that saw him bypass the Visakha FC backline before applying a composed finish to sign off a 5-1 win for the Malaysian side.

Ngah's effort garnered 57 percent of the votes.

Making their debut in the continental competition, Viettel stormed through June's group stage, winning all three of their games and scoring a joint tournament-leading 11 goals in the process to advance to the knockout rounds with minimal fuss.

Since then, however, Viettel’s league form has dipped as they have lost four from six and fallen to mid-table in the V.League. But with continental action to resume against Kuala Lumpur City at Ho Chi Minh City’s Thong Nhat Stadium on Wednesday, Hoang Duc is hoping the competition can inspire an upturn in fortunes.

Indonesia’s PSM Makassar are set to host Kedah Darul Aman of Malaysia on Tuesday, with Kedah’s countrymen Kuala Lumpur City the visitors against Vietnam’s Viettel FC a day later.

Ahead of the two eagerly anticipated matches, the-AFC.com has selected four players who could prove pivotal to their team’s chances.

After the Zonal format was introduced in 2017, the ensuing three years threw up some thrilling affairs as the sides battled it out for regional supremacy, before COVID-19 resulted in a two-year AFC Cup hiatus in Southeast Asia.

However, ASEAN has returned this year with Malaysia’s Kedah Darul Aman to take on Indonesia’s PSM Makassar and Vietnam’s Viettel FC to face another Malaysian side, Kuala Lumpur City FC, in the Zonal Semi-finals.

Ahead of those games, we shine the spotlight on some unforgettable ASEAN Zonal Semi-finals from over the years.

The AFC Cup ASEAN Zone has always been fiercely contested and passionately followed and ahead of the semi-finals, the-AFC.com invites you - the fans - to test your knowledge.

With 12 aspiring clubs aiming to lift the trophy, the stage is set for enthralling encounters leading to the all-important Final on October 22.

The competition promises to be tough and the-AFC.com invites you - the fans - to vote for your favourite as we get set for the knockout stage of the AFC Cup 2022.

Joining the Brazilian in the final are ATK Mohun Bagan's David Williams, Sun Ming Him of Eastern Long Lions, Viettel FC's Geovane Magno and Gil of Lee Man.