Today's Edition
Kuumar Shyam (Abu Dhabi)
The UAE team trained one last time in the early morning of Monday at Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi, before flying out to Doha, Qatar, for participation at the deferred 2023 Asian Cup.
Leading the UAE team’s hopes will be one player who has revelled at the premier continental tournament for Asian countries – Ali Mabkhout, the captain. The Al Jazira striker was among the goals at both the past stagings of the quadrennial tournament, and the UAE will hope to ride on another good year from him to get that elusive first title in the competition, which will include 51 matches and culminate on February 10.
Here are five goal-scoring threats to look for at the 18th Asian Cup:
Ali Mabkhout (UAE)
A modern-day legend of Asian football, Mabkhout continues to shoulder the goalscoring responsibility for his nation as the 33-year-old makes his third appearance in the AFC Asian Cup in a year that marks the 15th anniversary of his international debut.
With five goals in his debut campaign in 2015, when the Whites finished third, and four goals as they reached the semi-final again in 2019, Mabkhout has been consistent. He is joint-third among its all-time leading goalscorers – only behind the pair of Iran’s Ali Daei and South Korea’s Lee Dong-gook. The UAE has reached the semi-finals on four occasions and Mabkhout is five goals away from matching Dani’s record.
Qatar welcomes 🇦🇪 UAE to #AsianCup2023! pic.twitter.com/BFkPOSCKeK
— #AsianCup2023 (@afcasiancup) January 8, 2024
Mehedi Taremi (Iran)
Mehdi Taremi is in the best form of his life for Iran and he is in Qatar trying to make some amends. The striker scored thrice as Team Melli reached the semi-finals in 2019 but lost 3-0 to Japan with Taremi suspended for the crucial fixture after picking up his second yellow card in the quarter-final win over China.
The 31-year-old has 12 goals during the last calendar year for Iran. Taremi also remains a key player for Porto and won the Primeira Liga Golden Boot last season with a superb 22-goal haul as he continues to collect silverware in his fifth season in Portugal – all of which goes to show that he will be one to watch in Qatar.
Almoez Ali (Qatar)
The Qatar striker has taken part in only one AFC Asian Cup but the 2019 tournament was enough to write the then 22-year-old’s name into the history books as his nine goals – the most by a player in a single edition – powered Felix Sanchez’s side to a historic maiden Asian crown in the UAE.
Since then, the 2019 tournament’s MVP has continued to collect accolades, winning the Qatar Stars League title in 2020 and 2023 and the Amir Cup in 2019 and 2022 with his club side Al Duhail SC. But it is with the national team that Ali has truly earned his reputation as one of the most feared strikers on the continent.
Hwang Hee-chan (South Korea)
Going by his Premier League exploits, Hwang Hee-chan is poised to shine brightly for Jurgen Klinsmann’s South Korea. He had only eight goals during his first two seasons with Wolverhampton Wanderers, but the Korean forward has been red hot this campaign at Molineux. His 10 goals so far are more than any Wolves player since the 2019/20 season. He is drawing comparisons with compatriot Son Heung-min. The 27-year-old can create plenty of problems for opposition defences, especially with creative talents like Son, Lee Kang-in and Cho Gue-sung supporting him in the Taeguk Warriors line-up.
Ayase Ueda (Japan)
His move to Europe after four seasons of being prolific in the J1 League of his country with Kashima Antlers has a mixed verdict at this time. From Japan, he went to Belgium club Cercle Brugge in 2022, where he bagged 22 league goals. That quickly prompted another shift, to the Netherlands the following season.
Signing for Feyenoord and taking the number 9 shirt, the 25-year-old bagged his first goal for the Eredivisie champions in a 5-1 win against FC Utrecht in September. However, his involvement has been limited to cameos since. Yet, the striker continues to have the trust of Hajime Moriyasu, repaying the faith with a hat-trick to defeat Myanmar and a brace against Syria in the joint qualification for the 2026 World Cup and 2027 Asian Cup.
