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The Asian Football Confederation's 2007 AFC Asian Cup finals are currently being held from July 7 to July 29, 2007. For the first time in its history, the competition is being co-hosted by four nations: Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam.

The Asian Cup had previously been held every 4 years from 1956 onwards, the last cup being held in China in 2004. However, with the Summer Olympic Games and the European Football Championship also held in the same year as the Asian Cup (2004, 2008, 2012 etc.), the AFC decided to change their tradition and hold the tournament in 2007, and every four years henceforth from that date.

This is the first major AFC tournament in which Australia is participating as a member. Australia was the first non-host nation to qualify.

Host selection

The decision to have four host nations for this edition of the Asian Cup was proposed and presented to the executive committee by AFC president Mohammed Bin Hammam. However, he later regretted this decision and called it his "mistake", citing the financial and logistic difficulties in organising an event across four countries.

He said that "It is proving very difficult for have to have four organising committees, four media centres and there are also financial considerations." He also revealed that " definitely it ," if he had the choice.

In June 2005, the Asian Football Confederation warned Thailand that it needed to improve its facilities before 2007, otherwise it would be dropped, possibly being replaced with Singapore. On August 12 of the same year, the AFC confirmed that Thailand would be a co-host of the 2007 Asian Cup. However in October 2006, Thailand was again warned to improve its facilities in 90 days.

Venues

Qualification

The qualification round ran from February 22, 2006 to November 15, 2006. For the first time, the defending champions (Japan) needed to attend the qualification stage. Twenty-four teams attempted to qualify for 2007 AFC Asian Cup. They were divided into 4 teams for each group and determined the remaining last 12 places, as the four co-hosts - Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam - were already granted automatic qualification.

Seeds

For the first time, the seeds are based on the October 2006 FIFA World Rankings instead of the basis of the performance from the previous AFC Asian Cup competition. This was to ensure that the same number of strong teams do not meet in the early stage.

The four seeded teams were announced on December 19 2006. The seeds comprised Pot 4 in the draw. Pot 1 consists of the teams from all co-hosts.

On December 19, 2006, the draw was held in the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre (KLCC).

Match ball

The Official Match Ball for the 2007 AFC Asian Cup was launched by Nike on May 15 2007, making it the first time ever that a ball had been launched specifically for any football competition in Asia. The Nike Mercurial Veloci AC features four blue stripes with gold trim with each host city's name inscribed, as well as the AFC Asian Cup logo.

Officials

16 referees and 24 assistant referees were officially cleared following a fitness test scheduled on July 2 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. One referee and two assistant referees have also been named from the CAF.

• Matthew Breeze
  
• Mark Shield
  
• Jasim Karim
  
• Baojie Sun
  
• Masoud Moradi
  
• Yuichi Nishimura
  
• Saad Kameel Al Fadhli
  
• Talaat Najm
  
• Abdulrahman Abdou
  
• Khalil Ibrahim Al Ghamdi
  
• Eddy Maillet
  
• Kwon Jong-Chul †
  
• Lee Gi-Young
  
• Mushen Basma
  
• Satop Tongkhan
  
• Ali Hamad Madhad Saif Albadwawi

† Replaced Shamsul Maidin after the referee pulled out with injury.

Squads

Tournament Summary

The Asian Cup saw many upsets in the early stages of the tournament. In Group A, Oman held favourites Australia to a surprising draw. Oman took the lead and would have won save for an injury time goal from Tim Cahill. Next, hosts Vietnam shocked Gulf Champions UAE with a 2-0 victory. In the same group, Qatar held Japan to a shock 1-1 draw, which caused Japan coach Ivica Osim to fly into a rage in which he branded his players as 'amateurs' and reduced his interpreter to tears . In Group D, Indonesia continued the undefeated streak of the hosts by defeating Bahrain 2-1. Malaysia ended up as the only host country to drop their match, losing to China 5-1. Thailand recorded just its 2nd win in the Asian Cup finals (their other was in 1972 against Cambodia), and its first ever win in regulation, when they beat Oman 2-0 on July 12. Meanwhile, Australia was upset by a 3-1 defeat against Iraq the following day, leaving them floundering in the tournament despite high expectations.

Group stage

In the following tables:

• Pts = total points accumulated
• Pld = total games played
• W = total games won
• D = total games drawn (tied)
• L = total games lost
• GF = total goals scored (goals for)
• GA = total goals conceded (goals against)
• GD = goal difference (GF−GA)

The teams placed first and second (shaded in green) qualified to the quarterfinals.

In the league system, three (3) points will be awarded for a win, one (1) point for a draw and zero (0) point for a loss.

If two or more Teams are equal on points, their place shall be determined as follows:

• Greater number of points obtained in the group matches between the Teams concerned
• Goal difference resulting from the group matches between the Teams concerned
• Greater number of goals scored in the group matches between the Teams concerned
• Goal difference in all the group matches
• Greater number of goals scored in all the group matches
• Kicks from the penalty mark if only two Teams are involved and they are both on the field of play
• Drawing of lots

Group A

Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
Iraq	5	3	1	2	0	4	2	+2
Australia	4	3	1	1	1	6	4	+2
Thailand	4	3	1	1	1	3	5	−2
Oman	2	3	0	2	1	1	3	−2

Thailand	1 – 1	Iraq
Suksomkit 6' (pen)	(Report)	Younis Mahmoud 32'

Australia	1 – 1	Oman
Cahill 90+2'	(Report)	Al-Maimani 32'

Oman	0 – 2	Thailand
	(Report)	Thonkanya 70' 78'

Iraq	3 – 1	Australia
Nashat Akram 23' Hawar Mulla 60' Karrar Jassim 86'	(Report)	Viduka 47'

Thailand	0 – 4	Australia
	(Report)	Beauchamp 21' Viduka 80' 83' Kewell 90'

Oman	0 – 0	Iraq
	(Report)

Group B

Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
Japan	7	3	2	1	0	8	3	+5
Vietnam	4	3	1	1	1	4	5	−1
United Arab Emirates	3	3	1	0	2	3	6	−3
Qatar	2	3	0	2	1	3	4	−1

Vietnam	2 – 0	United Arab Emirates
Huỳnh Quang Thanh 63' Lê Công Vinh 73'	Report

Japan	1 – 1	Qatar
Takahara 61'	(Report)	Quintana 88'

Qatar	1 – 1	Vietnam
Quintana 79'	(Report)	Phan Thanh Bình 32'

United Arab Emirates	1 – 3	Japan
Alkas 66'	(Report)	Takahara 22' 27' Nakamura 42' (pen.)

Vietnam	1 – 4	Japan
Suzuki 8' (o.g.)	(Report)	Maki 12' 59' Endo 32' Nakamura 53'

Qatar	1 – 2	United Arab Emirates
Quintana 42'	(Report)	Alkas 59' Faisal Khalil 90'

Group C

Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
Iran	7	3	2	1	0	6	3	+3
Uzbekistan	6	3	2	0	1	9	2	+7
China	4	3	1	1	1	7	6	+1
Malaysia	0	3	0	0	3	1	12	−11

Malaysia	1 – 5	China
Indra Putra 74'	(Report)	Han Peng 15' 55' Shao Jiayi 36' Wang Dong 51' 90+3'

Iran	2 – 1	Uzbekistan
Hosseini 55' Kazemian 78'	(Report)	Rezaei 16' (o.g.)

Uzbekistan	5 – 0	Malaysia
Shatskikh 10' 89' Kapadze 29' Bakaev 45' (pen) Ibragimov 85'	(Report)

China	2 – 2	Iran
Shao Jiayi 6' Mao Jianqing 33'	(Report)	Zandi 45+1' Nekounam 73'

Malaysia	0 – 2	Iran
	(Report)	Nekounam 25' (pen) Teymourian 70'

Uzbekistan	3 – 0	China
Shatskikh 72' Kapadze 86' Geynrikh 90+4'	(Report)

Group D

Team	Pts	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
Saudi Arabia	7	3	2	1	0	7	2	+5
South Korea	4	3	1	1	1	3	3	0
Indonesia	3	3	1	0	2	3	4	−1
Bahrain	3	3	1	0	2	3	7	−4

Indonesia	2 – 1	Bahrain
Sudarsono 14' Pamungkas 64'	(Report)	Jalal 27'

South Korea	1 – 1	Saudi Arabia
Choi Sung-Kuk 66'	(Report)	Al-Qahtani 77' (pen)

Saudi Arabia	2 – 1	Indonesia
Al-Qahtani 12' Al-Harthi 90'	(Report)	Aiboy 20'

Bahrain	2 – 1	South Korea
Isa 43' Abdullatif 85'	(Report)	Kim Do-Heon 4'

Indonesia	0 – 1	South Korea
	(Report)	Kim Jung-Woo 33'

Saudi Arabia	4 – 0	Bahrain
Al-Mousa 18' Al-Qahtani 45' Al-Jassim 68' 80'	(Report)

Knock-out stage

	Quarter-finals				Semi-finals				Final
	July 21 - Bangkok
	Iraq	2
					July 25 - Kuala Lumpur
	Vietnam	0
					Iraq	0 (4)
	July 22 - Kuala Lumpur
					South Korea	0 (3)
	Iran	0 (2)
									July 29 - Jakarta
	South Korea	0 (4)
									Iraq
	July 21 - Hanoi
									Saudi Arabia
	Japan	1 (4)
					July 25 - Hanoi
	Australia	1 (3)
					Japan	2
	July 22 - Jakarta
					Saudi Arabia	3			Third place
	Saudi Arabia	2
									July 28 - Palembang
	Uzbekistan	1
									South Korea
									Japan

Quarter-finals

Japan	1 – 1 (aet)	Australia
Takahara 72'	(Report)	Aloisi 69'

Template:Penshootoutbox

Iraq	2 – 0	Vietnam
Younis Mahmoud 2' 66'	(Report)

Iran	0 – 0 (aet)	South Korea
	(Report)

Template:Penshootoutbox

Saudi Arabia	2 – 1	Uzbekistan
Al-Qahtani 3' Al-Mousa 75'	(Report)	Solomin 81'

Semi-finals

Iraq	0 – 0 (AET)	South Korea
	(Report)

Template:Penshootoutbox

Japan	2 – 3	Saudi Arabia
Nakazawa 37' Abe 53'		Al-Qahtani 35' Malek 47' 57'

Third place play-off

South Korea	–	Japan

Final

Iraq	–	Saudi Arabia

Goalscorers

Players in bold are still active within the tournament.

References

1. "Thailand confirmed as AFC Asian Cup 2007 co-host". AFC. 2005-08-12. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
2. "Thailand handed 90-day Asian Cup reprieve". The Guardian. 2006-10-17. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
3. "AFC Asian Cup 2007 Organising Committee approves team classification for Final Draw". AFC. 2006-12-19. Retrieved 2006-12-19. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
4. "AFC Asian Cup 2007™ Official Match Ball launched". AFC. 2006-06-26. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
5. "Exclusive Pictures: Asian Cup Match Ball". 442 Magazine Australia. 2007-05-14. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
6. "Officials announced for Asian Cup". AFC. 2007-06-21. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
7. "Referee Maidin ruled out through injury". AFC. 2007-06-26. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

External links

• AFC Asian Cup 2007
• Asian Cup 2007 at RSSSF

Template:Fb start

v t e International association football
FIFA Federations Teams Competitions World Rankings The Best FIFA Football Awards Timeline
World (FIFA)	FIFA World Cup U-20 U-17 FIFA Confederations Cup FIFA Gold Cup Olympic Games Youth Olympic Games
Asia (AFC)	AFC Asian Cup U-23 U-20 U-17 AFC Challenge Cup AFC Solidarity Cup Asian Games Regional ASEAN CAFA EAFF SAFF WAFF Arabian Gulf Cup East Asian Games Far Eastern Games South Asian Games Southeast Asian Games West Asian Games
Africa (CAF)	CAF Africa Cup of Nations U-23 U-20 U-17 CAF African Nations Championship African Games Regional CECAFA COSAFA UNIFFAC WAFU Central African Games Indian Ocean Island Games
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South America (CONMEBOL)	CONMEBOL Copa América U-23 U-20 U-17 U-15 South American Games Regional Bolivarian Games
Oceania (OFC)	OFC Nations Cup U-23 U-19 U-17 Regional Melanesia Cup Polynesia Cup Pacific Games Pacific Mini Games
Europe (UEFA)	UEFA European Championship U-21 U-19 U-17 UEFA Nations League Regional Central European Cup Balkan Cup Baltic Cup British Home Championship Nordic Championship
Inter-Continental	CONMEBOL–UEFA Cup of Champions CPF Panamerican Championship CAF-AFC Afro-Asian Cup of Nations AFC–OFC Challenge Cup FIFA Arab Cup Palestine Cup Kuneitra Cup Overseas Cup Afro-Asian Games Arab Games Francophone Games GANEFO Goodwill Games Islamic Games Islamic Solidarity Games Lusofonia Games Mediterranean Cup Mediterranean Games Pan American Games
Non-FIFA	CONIFA World Football Cup CONIFA European Football Cup CONIFA South America Football Cup CONIFA Africa Football Cup FIFI Wild Cup UIAFA Great European Tournament Island Games Micronesian Games Universiade World Unity Football Alliance
See also Geography Codes Player/Club of the Century Women's football

Template:Fb end

• AFC Asian Cup
• 2007 in football (soccer)
• Sports festivals hosted in Thailand
• Sports festivals hosted in Indonesia
• Sports festivals hosted in Malaysia
• Sports festivals hosted in Vietnam