2011 AFC Asian Cup

The 2011 AFC Asian Cup was the 15th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). The finals were held in Qatar from 7 to 29 January 2011.[1][2] It was the fifteenth time the tournament has been held, and the second time it has been hosted by Qatar, the other being the 1988 AFC Asian Cup. Japan won the cup after a 1–0 win against Australia, and earned the right to compete in the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup in Brazil as the representative from AFC.[3][4]

2011 AFC Asian Cup
2011 كأس آسيا
Tournament details
Host countryQatar
Dates7–29 January
Teams16 (from 1 confederation)
Venue(s)5 (in 2 host cities)
Final positions
Champions Japan (4th title)
Runners-up Australia
Third place South Korea
Fourth place Uzbekistan
Tournament statistics
Matches played32
Goals scored90 (2.81 per match)
Attendance405,361 (12,668 per match)
Top scorer(s)South Korea Koo Ja-cheol (5 goals)
Best player(s)Japan Keisuke Honda
Fair play award South Korea
Results of the 2011 AFC Asian Cup.

A television viewing audience of 484 million in 80 countries across the Asia-Pacific region, Europe, North America and North Africa witnessed Japan defeat Australia 1–0 in the final.[5]

Host selection

Qatar, India and Iran all lodged interest in hosting the 2011 AFC Asian Cup,[6] while Australia also considered making a late bid.[7] Qatar officially submitted their bid on 19 June 2006,[8] while India withdrew their interest and Iran failed to submit proper documentation for their bid on time.[9]

Qatar was announced as host nation on 29 July 2007, during the 2007 AFC Asian Cup in Jakarta, Indonesia. Due to FIFA regulations stating that confederation events can be hosted either in January or July, and July being peak summer heat in the Middle East, 2011 Asian Cup took place in January of that year.[1][2]

Qualification
Main article: 2011 AFC Asian Cup qualification

The teams finishing first, second and third in the 2007 AFC Asian Cup, and the host nation for the 2011 competition, received automatic byes to the finals. They were joined by the top two finishers in each of five qualifying groups. The AFC Challenge Cup acted as a further qualification competition for eligible countries within the emerging and developing category of member associations. The winners of the AFC Challenge Cup competitions in 2008 and 2010 qualified automatically to the 2011 AFC Asian Cup finals. These two winners were India and North Korea. It was India's first play for the Asian Cup since 1984, and North Korea's first since 1992.

The final day of qualification was 3 March 2010.

List of qualified teams
Final qualification status
  Team qualified for Asian Cup
  Team failed to qualify
CountryQualified asDate qualification was securedPrevious appearances in tournament1, 2
 QatarHosts29 July 20077 (1980, 1984, 1988, 1992, 2000, 2004, 2007)
 Iraq2007 AFC Asian Cup winner25 July 20076 (1972, 1976, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2007)
 Saudi Arabia2007 AFC Asian Cup runner-up25 July 20077 (1984, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2007)
 South Korea2007 AFC Asian Cup third place28 July 200711 (1956, 1960, 1964, 1972, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2007)
 India2008 AFC Challenge Cup winner13 August 20082 (1964, 1984)
 UzbekistanGroup C runner-up18 November 20094 (1996, 2000, 2004, 2007)
 SyriaGroup D winner18 November 20094 (1980, 1984, 1988, 1996)
 IranGroup E winner6 January 201011 (1968, 1972, 1976, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2007)
 ChinaGroup D runner-up6 January 20109 (1976, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2007)
 JapanGroup A winner6 January 20106 (1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2007)
 BahrainGroup A runner-up6 January 20103 (1988, 2004, 2007)
 United Arab EmiratesGroup C winner6 January 20107 (1980, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2004, 2007)
 North Korea2010 AFC Challenge Cup winner27 February 20102 (1980, 1992)
 AustraliaGroup B winner3 March 20101 (2007)
 KuwaitGroup B runner-up3 March 20108 (1972, 1976, 1980, 1984, 1988, 1996, 2000, 2004)
 JordanGroup E runner-up3 March 20101 (2004)

Notes:

1 Bold indicates champion for that year
2 Italic indicates host

Draw

The draw for the AFC Asian Cup 2011 was held on 23 April 2010 in Doha, Qatar. Qatar were seeded among the top group.[10][11]

Seeding

Seeding was announced on 22 April 2010. Qatar were automatically placed in Group A.[12] FIFA rankings of April 2010 are given in brackets.[13]

Pot 1 (Host and Seeds) Pot 2 Pot 3 Pot 4
 Qatar (96)
 Iraq (81)
 Saudi Arabia (66)
 South Korea (47)		  Japan (43)
 Australia (20)
 Iran (60)
 Uzbekistan (93)		  China (84)
 United Arab Emirates (100)
 Bahrain (69)
 Jordan (103)		  Syria (98)
 Kuwait (97)
 India (133)
 North Korea (106)

Venues
Main article: List of football stadiums in Qatar
🌍
Venues of the 2011 AFC Asian Cup
1
Ahmed bin Ali Stadium
2
Jassim bin Hamad Stadium
3
Khalifa International Stadium
4
Thani bin Jassim Stadium
5
Suheim Bin Hamad Stadium

Members of the AFC Organising Committee for AFC Asian Cup 2011 have agreed the use of five stadiums for the 2011 tournament.[14]

Qatar
City Stadium Capacity
Al Rayyan Ahmed bin Ali Stadium 21,282
Jassim bin Hamad Stadium 12,946
Khalifa International Stadium 40,000
Thani bin Jassim Stadium 21,175
Doha Suheim Bin Hamad Stadium 13,000

Officials

12 referees and 24 assistants were selected for the tournament, along with three stand-by referees:[15]

Referee Assistants
Australia Ben Williams Australia Ben Wilson Australia Hakan Anaz
Japan Yuichi Nishimura Japan Toru Sagara Japan Toshiyuki Nagi
South Korea Kim Dong-jin South Korea Jeong Hae-sang South Korea Jang Jun-mo
Malaysia Subkhiddin Mohd Salleh China Mu Yuxin Malaysia Mohd Sabri bin Mat Daud
Oman Abdullah Al Hilali Kyrgyzstan Bakhadyr Kochkarov Oman Hamed Al Mayahi
Qatar Abdulrahman Abdou Qatar Mohammad Darman Qatar Hassan Al Thawadi
Iran Mohsen Torky Iran Hassan Kamranifar Iran Reza Sokhandan
Singapore Abdul Malik Abdul Bashir Singapore Jeffrey Goh Gek Pheng Singapore Haja Maidin
Bahrain Nawaf Shukralla Bahrain Khaled Al Alan Syria Mohammed Jawdat Nehlawi
United Arab Emirates Ali Al Badwawi United Arab Emirates Saleh Al Marzouqi Kuwait Yaser Marad
Uzbekistan Ravshan Irmatov Uzbekistan Abdukhamidullo Rasulov Uzbekistan Rafael Ilyasov

Standby referees
Iran Alireza Faghani
Uzbekistan Valentin Kovalenko
Qatar Abdullah Balideh

Squads
Main article: 2011 AFC Asian Cup squads

Each country's final squad of 23 players was submitted by 28 December 2010.[16]

Group stage

All times are Arabian Standard Time (AST) – UTC+3

Tie-breaking criteria

The teams are ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a tie, 0 points for a loss) and tie breakers are in following order:[16]

  1. Greater number of points obtained in the group matches between the teams concerned;
  2. Goal difference resulting from the group matches between the teams concerned;
  3. Greater number of goals scored in the group matches between the teams concerned;
  4. Goal difference in all the group matches;
  5. Greater number of goals scored in all the group matches;
  6. Kicks from the penalty mark if only two teams are involved and they are both on the field of play;
  7. Fewer score calculated according to the number of yellow and red cards received in the group matches; (1 point for each yellow card, 3 points for each red card as a consequence of two yellow cards, 3 points for each direct red card, 4 points for each yellow card followed by a direct red card)
  8. Drawing of lots.

Group A
Main article: 2011 AFC Asian Cup Group A
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Uzbekistan 3 2 1 0 6 3 +3 7 Advance to knockout stage
2  Qatar (H) 3 2 0 1 5 2 +3 6
3  China 3 1 1 1 4 4 0 4
4  Kuwait 3 0 0 3 1 7 −6 0
Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
(H) Hosts
Qatar 0–2 Uzbekistan
Report Ahmedov 59'
Djeparov 77'
Attendance: 37,143
Kuwait 0–2 China
Report Zhang Linpeng 58'
Deng Zhuoxiang 67'
Attendance: 7,423
Uzbekistan 2–1 Kuwait
Shatskikh 41'
Djeparov 65'		 Report Al-Mutwa 49' (pen.)
Attendance: 3,481
China 0–2 Qatar
Report Ahmed 27', 45+1'
Attendance: 30,778
Qatar 3–0 Kuwait
B. Mohammed 12'
El-Sayed 16'
Fábio César 86'		 Report
Attendance: 28,339
China 2–2 Uzbekistan
Yu Hai 6'
Hao Junmin 56'		 Report Ahmedov 30'
Geynrikh 46'
Attendance: 3,529

Group B
Main article: 2011 AFC Asian Cup Group B
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Japan 3 2 1 0 8 2 +6 7 Advance to knockout stage
2  Jordan 3 2 1 0 4 2 +2 7
3  Syria 3 1 0 2 4 5 −1 3
4  Saudi Arabia 3 0 0 3 1 8 −7 0
Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
Japan 1–1 Jordan
Yoshida 90+2' Report Abdel Fattah 45'
Attendance: 6,255
Saudi Arabia 1–2 Syria
Al-Jassim 60' Report A. Al Hussain 38', 63'
Attendance: 15,768
Jordan 1–0 Saudi Arabia
Abdul-Rahman 42' Report
Attendance: 17,349
Referee: Ali Al-Badwawi (UAE)
Syria 1–2 Japan
Al Khatib 76' (pen.) Report Hasebe 35'
Honda 82' (pen.)
Attendance: 10,453
Referee: Mohsen Torky (Iran)
Saudi Arabia 0–5 Japan
Report Okazaki 8', 13', 80'
Maeda 19', 51'
Attendance: 2,022
Jordan 2–1 Syria
Diab 30' (o.g.)
Al-Saify 59'		 Report Al Zeno 15'
Attendance: 9,849

Group C
Main article: 2011 AFC Asian Cup Group C
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Australia 3 2 1 0 6 1 +5 7 Advance to knockout stage
2  South Korea 3 2 1 0 7 3 +4 7
3  Bahrain 3 1 0 2 6 5 +1 3
4  India 3 0 0 3 3 13 −10 0
Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
India 0–4 Australia
Report Cahill 11', 65'
Kewell 25'
Holman 45+2'
Attendance: 9,783
Referee: Ali Al-Badwawi (UAE)
South Korea 2–1 Bahrain
Koo Ja-cheol 41', 56' Report Aaish 85' (pen.)
Attendance: 6,669
Australia 1–1 South Korea
Jedinak 62' Report Koo Ja-cheol 24'
Attendance: 15,526
Bahrain 5–2 India
Aaish 8' (pen.)
Abdullatif 16', 19', 35', 77'		 Report Gouramangi 9'
Chhetri[lower-alpha 1] 52'
Attendance: 11,032
South Korea 4–1 India
Ji Dong-won 6', 23'
Koo Ja-cheol 9'
Son Heung-min 81'		 Report Chhetri 12' (pen.)
Attendance: 11,366
Australia 1–0 Bahrain
Jedinak 37' Report
Attendance: 3,919

Group D
Main article: 2011 AFC Asian Cup Group D
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1  Iran 3 3 0 0 6 1 +5 9 Advance to knockout stage
2  Iraq 3 2 0 1 3 2 +1 6
3  North Korea 3 0 1 2 0 2 −2 1
4  United Arab Emirates 3 0 1 2 0 4 −4 1
Source: AFC
Rules for classification: Tiebreakers
North Korea 0–0 United Arab Emirates
Report
Attendance: 3,639
Iraq 1–2 Iran
Mahmoud 13' Report Rezaei 42'
Mobali 84'
Attendance: 10,478
Iran 1–0 North Korea
Ansarifard 63' Report
Attendance: 6,488
United Arab Emirates 0–1 Iraq
Report W. Abbas 90+3' (o.g.)
Attendance: 7,233
Iraq 1–0 North Korea
Jassim 22' Report
Attendance: 4,111
United Arab Emirates 0–3 Iran
Report Afshin 67'
M. Nouri 83'
W. Abbas 90+3' (o.g.)
Attendance: 5,012

Knockout stage
Main article: 2011 AFC Asian Cup knockout stage
 
Quarter-finalsSemi-finalsFinal
 
          
 
21 January – Al Rayyan (Khalifa)
 
 
 Uzbekistan2
 
25 January – Al Rayyan (Khalifa)
 
 Jordan1
 
 Uzbekistan0
 
22 January – Al Rayyan (Jassim)
 
 Australia6
 
 Australia (a.e.t.)1
 
29 January – Al Rayyan (Khalifa)
 
 Iraq0
 
 Australia0
 
21 January – Al Rayyan (Thani)
 
 Japan (a.e.t.)1
 
 Japan3
 
25 January – Al Rayyan (Thani)
 
 Qatar2
 
 Japan (pen.)2 (3)
 
22 January – Doha
 
 South Korea2 (0) Third place
 
 Iran0
 
28 January – Al Rayyan (Jassim)
 
 South Korea (a.e.t.)1
 
 Uzbekistan2
 
 
 South Korea3
 

All times are Arabian Standard Time (AST) – UTC+3

Quarter-finals
Japan 3–2 Qatar
Kagawa 29', 71'
Inoha 89'		 Report Soria 13'
Fábio César 63'
Attendance: 19,479
Uzbekistan 2–1 Jordan
Bakayev 47', 49' Report B. Bani Yaseen 58'
Attendance: 16,073
Australia 1–0 (a.e.t.) Iraq
Kewell 118' Report
Attendance: 7,889
Iran 0–1 (a.e.t.) South Korea
Report Yoon Bit-garam 105'
Attendance: 7,111

Semi-finals
Japan 2–2 (a.e.t.) South Korea
Maeda 36'
Hosogai 97'		 Report Ki Sung-yueng 23' (pen.)
Hwang Jae-won 120'
Penalties
K. Honda soccer ball with check mark
Okazaki soccer ball with check mark
Nagatomo soccer ball with red X
Konno soccer ball with check mark		 3–0 soccer ball with red X Koo Ja-cheol
soccer ball with red X Lee Yong-rae
soccer ball with red X Hong Jeong-ho
Attendance: 16,171
Uzbekistan 0–6 Australia
Report Kewell 5'
Ognenovski 35'
Carney 65'
Emerton 73'
Valeri 82'
Kruse 83'
Attendance: 24,826
Referee: Ali Al Badwawi (UAE)

Third place playoff
Uzbekistan 2–3 South Korea
Geynrikh 45' (pen.), 53' Report Koo Ja-cheol 18'
Ji Dong-won 28', 39'
Attendance: 8,199

Final
Main article: 2011 AFC Asian Cup Final
Australia 0–1 (a.e.t.) Japan
Report T. Lee 109'
Attendance: 37,174

Statistics

Goalscorers

With five goals, Koo Ja-cheol was the top scorer in the tournament. In total, 90 goals were scored by 60 different players, with three of them credited as own goals.

5 goals:

4 goals:

3 goals:

2 goals:

1 goal:

1 own goal:

2 own goals:

Awards

The AFC selected the MVP, top goalscorer, fair play award and four quality players of the tournament.[17] They didn't officially announce the all-star team of this tournament.

Most Valuable Player

Top Goalscorer

Fair Play Award

Quality Players

Final standings
Pos. Team G Pld W D L Pts GF GA GD
1  Japan B 6 4 2 0 14 14 6 +8
2  Australia C 6 4 1 1 13 13 2 +11
3  South Korea C 6 4 2 0 14 13 7 +6
4  Uzbekistan A 6 3 1 2 10 10 13 −3
Eliminated in the quarter-finals
5  Iran D 4 3 0 1 9 6 2 +4
6  Jordan B 4 2 1 1 7 5 4 +1
7  Qatar A 4 2 0 2 6 7 5 +2
8  Iraq D 4 2 0 2 6 3 3 0
Eliminated in group stage
9  China A 3 1 1 1 4 4 4 0
10  Syria B 3 1 0 2 3 4 5 −1
11  Bahrain C 3 1 0 2 3 6 5 +1
12  North Korea D 3 0 1 2 1 0 2 −2
13  United Arab Emirates D 3 0 1 2 1 0 4 −4
14  Kuwait A 3 0 0 3 0 1 7 −6
15  Saudi Arabia B 3 0 0 3 0 1 8 −7
16  India C 3 0 0 3 0 3 13 −10

Marketing

Official match ball

The Nike Total 90 Tracer was the official match ball of the tournament.[18]

Official mascot

Official mascot were Saboog, Tmbki, Freha, Zkriti and Tranaa.

Official song
"Yalla Asia"
Single by Jay Sean featuring Karl Wolf and Radhika Vekaria
Released9 January 2011
Length3:21
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Max Herman

For marketing of the event, the organisers opted for the slogan "Yalla Asia" with a song sung by international artists Jay Sean and Karl Wolf, featuring Radhika Vekaria. Yalla Asia was composed and written by Radhika Vekaria, Max Herman and Zoulikha El Fassi. Max Herman produced the record for Zoul Projects 2011. The music video features Football Free Stylers Abbas Farid and Soufiane Touzani.

The music video was released on January 9, 2011.

Controversies

The 2011 Asian Cup was not without controversies as concerns were risen about the extremely low crowds at most games not featuring hosts Qatar. The average attendance was just 12,006, much lower than the previous AFC Asian Cup tournaments. North Korea and the United Arab Emirates both had the lowest attendance numbers with approximately 3,000 and 6,000 attendances respectively.[19] The final match between Japan and Australia saw as many as 3,000 to 10,000 fans with valid tickets denied entry to the stadium[20] which then allegedly sparked small skirmishes among fans, "It was just incredibly badly handled. There were kids and families, not causing any problem, being confronted by riot police and being told they weren't getting in", according to Andy Richardson, Al Jazeera's sports correspondent.[21] The AFC stated that the gates were closed early for security concerns and organisers did not anticipate an influx of Japanese and Australian fans. The organising committee has offered to refund all tickets not redeemed at the match.[22]

After staging the 2006 Asian Games,[23] this Asian Cup was being closely watched as an indicator to see how Qatar copes with hosting a major international football tournament[24] in preparation for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Notes
  1. Clarification on goalscorers: the second Indian goal is credited to Sunil Chhetri, who headed in a rebound after a shot from Renedy Singh hit the underside of the bar and bounced behind the goal line. However, as the officials did not indicate a goal was scored at that earlier point but only after Chhetri headed into the net, Renedy cannot be credited with the goal.

References
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  2. "Qatar to host AFC Asian Cup in 2011". Asian Football Confederation. 29 July 2007. Archived from the original on 10 June 2007. Retrieved 29 July 2007.
  3. "Japan down Aussies to make history". FIFA.com. 29 January 2011. Archived from the original on 1 February 2011. Retrieved 2 February 2011.
  4. "Australia 0 – 1 Japan". ESPN Soccernet. 29 January 2011. Archived from the original on 31 January 2011. Retrieved 2 February 2011.
  5. "Asian Cup final 'rematch' kick-off time set". Asian Football Confederation. 23 April 2012. Archived from the original on 11 September 2012. Retrieved 5 May 2012.
  6. "Nations make Asian Cup bid". Fox Sports. 14 February 2007. Archived from the original on 29 September 2007. Retrieved 20 February 2007.
  7. "Chances to host 2011 Asian Cup fading". The Sydney Morning Herald. 13 February 2007. Archived from the original on 10 February 2009. Retrieved 13 February 2007.
  8. Qatar formally submits Asian Cup 2011 bid AFC Asian Cup Archived 3 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine
  9. India withdraw 2011 AFC Asian Cup interest AFC Asian Cup Archived 3 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine
  10. "Unity the theme at AFC Executive Committee meeting". AFC. 25 November 2009. Archived from the original on 12 May 2014. Retrieved 25 November 2009.
  11. "AFC Asian Cup 2011 Finals draw on April 23". AFC. 23 February 2010. Archived from the original on 13 September 2012. Retrieved 23 February 2010.
  12. "AFC Asian Cup 2011 final draw mechanics". The-AFC.com. Asian Football Confederation. 22 April 2010. Archived from the original on 10 May 2014.
  13. "April 2010 FIFA World Rankings". Retrieved 17 February 2021.
  14. "AFC Organising Committee for AFC Asian Cup 2011". AFC. 14 July 2009. Archived from the original on 17 October 2018. Retrieved 14 July 2009.
  15. "2011 AFC Asian Cup referees". Asian Football Confederation. Archived from the original on 19 October 2018.
  16. "AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2011 Competition Regulations" (PDF). AFC. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 November 2011.
  17. "AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2011 Technical Report". The-AFC.com. AFC. Retrieved 10 December 2019.
  18. "The Tracer's excitement for AC 2011". The-AFC.com. Asian Football Confederation. 13 December 2010. Archived from the original on 19 October 2018. Retrieved 14 December 2010.
  19. "AFC Asian Cup Statistics – ESPN FC". go.com. Archived from the original on 24 October 2012. Retrieved 3 February 2011.
  20. "Asian Cup ticket-holders denied entry to finale". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on 3 February 2011. Retrieved 1 February 2011.
  21. "Five things we've learned from Qatar's Asian Cup". CNN. 3 February 2011. Archived from the original on 9 February 2011. Retrieved 3 February 2011.
  22. "Refund offer for Asian Cup final lockout". ABC News. 3 February 2011. Archived from the original on 5 May 2018. Retrieved 13 January 2022.
  23. "AFP: Qatar puts Middle East football on map". google.com. Archived from the original on 6 December 2010. Retrieved 18 March 2018.
  24. "Qatar: From obscure desert kingdom to World Cup host". cnn.com. Archived from the original on 21 January 2011. Retrieved 23 January 2011.
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