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2015 AFC Asian Cup

(Redirected from Asian Cup 2015)

The 2015 AFC Asian Cup was the 16th edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It was held in Australia from 9 to 31 January 2015.[1] The tournament was won by Australia after defeating South Korea 2–1 in extra time in the final, thereby earning the right to participate in the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup, which was hosted by Russia. The win was Australia's first Asian title since their move from the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) in 2006. It was also the first time a men's team has become champions of two confederations, following Australia's four OFC Nations Cup titles: 1980, 1996, 2000 and 2004; right after the Australian women's team won the 2010 AFC Women's Asian Cup. Australia thus became the final and permanent holder of the old AFC Asian Cup trophy, as the new trophy would debut in the tournament four years later.[2][3]

2015 AFC Asian Cup
Tournament details
Host countryAustralia
Dates9–31 January
Teams16 (from 1 confederation)
Venue(s)5 (in 5 host cities)
Final positions
Champions Australia (1st title)
Runners-up South Korea
Third place United Arab Emirates
Fourth place Iraq
Tournament statistics
Matches played32
Goals scored85 (2.66 per match)
Attendance705,705 (22,053 per match)
Top scorer(s)United Arab Emirates Ali Mabkhout
(5 goals)
Best player(s)Australia Massimo Luongo
Best goalkeeperAustralia Mathew Ryan
Fair play award Australia
← 2011
2019 →
Result of countries participating in the 2015 AFC Asian Cup

Australia was chosen as the host on 5 January 2011, after being the sole bidder for the right to host the 2015 tournament. The matches were played in five different stadiums across five cities: Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Canberra and Newcastle. It was the first time that Australia had hosted the tournament, and it was also the first time the Asian Cup had been held outside the continent of Asia. As hosts, Australia automatically qualified for the final tournament, while the remaining 15 finalists (with the exception of Japan and South Korea who qualified via their top three position in the previous Asian Cup) were decided through a qualification process, featuring 44 teams, from February 2013 to March 2014.

The final tournament was played in two stages: the group stage and the knockout stage. In the group stage each team played three games in a group of four, with the winners and runners-up from each group advancing to the knockout stage. In the knockout stage the eight teams competed in single-elimination matches, beginning with the quarter-finals and ending with the final match of the tournament. A third-place match was also played between the two losing teams of the semi-finals (Iraq and the United Arab Emirates). This was also the last time the tournament had a third-place match, as it wasn't played since the 2019 edition.

Japan were the defending champions going into the tournament, having won the previous competition in 2011. They recorded their worst finish in the Asian Cup since the 1996 edition in the United Arab Emirates, being knocked out in the quarter-finals by that team in a penalty shootout.[4]

Host selection

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Australia initially put forward its bid to host the 2015 AFC Asian Cup in 2010.[5] As the sole bidder for the hosting rights, Australia was officially named host on 5 January 2011.[6]

Considering the efforts of the Football Federation Australia in developing the game on their territory and considering also all the achievements that have been made towards the development of football in Australia and to encourage Australia to take steps towards developing the game, I am happy and honoured to announce that the executive committee of the Asian Football Confederation has approved Australia as the host nation of the 2015 AFC Asian Cup.

— AFC President, Mohammed Bin Hammam[7]

Teams

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Qualification

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Main article: 2015 AFC Asian Cup qualification

The 2015 AFC Asian Cup qualification process determined the 16 participating teams for the tournament. In the initial scheme, ten places were determined by qualification matches, while six places were reserved for the 2015 host nation, top three finishers in the 2011 AFC Asian Cup, and the two winners of the AFC Challenge Cup. Though, as the host nation Australia also finished as runners-up in the 2011 Asian Cup, the initial six automatic qualification spots were reduced to five, with a total of 11 spots eventually determined by the qualification matches, in which 20 AFC members competed.[8]

There were two main competitive paths to the 2015 Asian Cup. The AFC Challenge Cup acted as a qualification competition for eligible countries within the emerging and developing category of member associations. The winners of the AFC Challenge Cup competitions in 2012 and 2014 qualified automatically for the 2015 AFC Asian Cup finals.[9] The remaining spots were available for the teams competing in the main Asian Cup preliminaries. The AFC decided that the 20 teams involved in the qualifiers would be split into five groups of four teams each. The top two teams from each group and one best third-placed team from among all the groups would qualify for the 2015 AFC Asian Cup.[10]

Qualified teams

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Out of the sixteen teams that qualified, fourteen had participated in the 2011 tournament. Oman qualified for the first time since 2007. Palestine, winners of the 2014 AFC Challenge Cup, were the only team making their first appearance in the tournament. India and Syria are the only two teams from the 2011 tournament who failed to qualify for the subsequent edition. Excluding hosts Australia, none of the other 11 members of the ASEAN Football Federation qualified, nor did any of the South Asian national teams.

 
  Qualified for Asian Cup
  Failed to qualify
  Did not enter
  Not an AFC member
Team Method of
qualification 		Date of
qualification 		Finals
appearance 		Last
appearance 		Previous best
performance
  Australia Hosts 5 January 2011 3rd 2011 Runners-up (2011)
  Japan 2011 AFC Asian Cup winners 25 January 2011 8th 2011 Winners (1992, 2000, 2004, 2011)
  South Korea 2011 AFC Asian Cup 3rd place 28 January 2011 13th 2011 Winners (1956, 1960)
  North Korea 2012 AFC Challenge Cup winners 19 March 2012 4th 2011 Fourth place (1980)
  Bahrain Group D winners 15 November 2013 5th 2011 Fourth place (2004)
  United Arab Emirates Group E winners 15 November 2013 9th 2011 Runners-up (1996)
  Saudi Arabia Group C winners 15 November 2013 9th 2011 Winners (1984, 1988, 1996)
  Oman Group A winners 19 November 2013 3rd 2007 Group stage (2004, 2007)
  Uzbekistan Group E runners-up 19 November 2013 6th 2011 Fourth place (2011)
  Qatar Group D runners-up 19 November 2013 9th 2011 Quarter-finals (2000, 2011)
  Iran Group B winners 19 November 2013 13th 2011 Winners (1968, 1972, 1976)
  Kuwait Group B runners-up 19 November 2013 10th 2011 Winners (1980)
  Jordan Group A runners-up 4 February 2014 3rd 2011 Quarter-finals (2004, 2011)
  Iraq Group C runners-up 5 March 2014 8th 2011 Winners (2007)
  China Best third-placed team 5 March 2014 11th 2011 Runners-up (1984, 2004)
  Palestine 2014 AFC Challenge Cup winners 30 May 2014 1st N/A N/A

Draw

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The Sydney Opera House, location for the final draw

The draw for the final tournament occurred at the Sydney Opera House on 26 March 2014.[11] The draw procedure involved the 16 participating teams drawn at random into the four groups of the group stage.[12] In preparation for this, the teams were organised into four pots based on a seeding which used the March 2014 FIFA World Rankings (rankings beside the qualified teams). The draw and seeding ensured a fair distribution of teams in the groups, with each of the four groups in the group stage made up of one team from each pot. The host nation (Australia) was automatically placed into Pot 1, with the team having been predetermined to be in Group A.[13] In addition, at the time of the draw, the identity of the 2014 AFC Challenge Cup winners (Palestine) was not known yet, and they were automatically placed into Pot 4.

Pot 1 Pot 2 Pot 3 Pot 4
  Australia (63) (hosts)
  Iran (42)
  Japan (48)
  Uzbekistan (55) 		  South Korea (60)
  United Arab Emirates (61)
  Jordan (66)
  Saudi Arabia (75) 		  Oman (81)
  China (98)
  Qatar (101)
  Iraq (103) 		  Bahrain (106)
  Kuwait (110)
  North Korea (133)
  Palestine (167)

Venues

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Stadiums

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The five host cities for the 2015 AFC Asian Cup, Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Canberra and Newcastle, were announced on 27 March 2013, with a total five stadiums to be used.[14]

Sydney Brisbane Newcastle
Stadium Australia Brisbane Stadium Newcastle Stadium
Capacity: 84,000 Capacity: 52,500 Capacity: 33,000[15]
     
Melbourne
Melbourne Rectangular Stadium
Capacity: 30,050
 
Canberra
Canberra Stadium
Capacity: 25,011
 

Ticketing

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Tickets for the venues were sold directly by AFC via its website, or distributed by the football associations of the 16 finalists. 500,000 tickets were available for the 31 tournament matches.[16] Over 45,000 international visitors were forecast to visit Australia during the tournament.[17] Prices varied from $10 (for a seat behind the goals at a group match) to $150 (for a seat in the main stand at the final). In addition to individual match tickets, fans could buy packages to see all matches played at one specific venue.[18]

Team base camps

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Each team had a "team base camp" for its stay between the matches. From an initial list of 27 potential locations, the national associations chose their locations in 2014.[19] The teams trained and resided in these locations throughout the tournament, travelling to games staged away from their bases.[20]

Team Arrival Last match Base camp Group stage venues QF venues SF venues Final venue
  Australia 29 December 31 January Melbourne Melbourne, Sydney & Brisbane Brisbane Newcastle Sydney
  Bahrain 22 December 19 January Ballarat Melbourne, Canberra & Sydney — — —
  China 29 December 22 January Sydney Brisbane & Canberra Brisbane — —
  Iran 31 December 23 January Sydney Melbourne, Sydney & Brisbane Canberra — —
  Iraq 1 January 30 January Canberra Brisbane & Canberra Canberra Sydney Newcastle
  Japan 3 January 23 January Cessnock Newcastle, Brisbane & Melbourne Sydney — —
  Jordan 23 December 20 January Melbourne Brisbane & Melbourne — — —
  Kuwait 18 December 17 January Queanbeyan Melbourne, Canberra & Newcastle — — —
  North Korea 15 December 18 January Canberra Sydney, Melbourne & Canberra — — —
  Oman 28 December 17 January Sydney Canberra, Sydney & Newcastle — — —
  Palestine 2 January 20 January Brisbane Newcastle, Melbourne & Canberra — — —
  Qatar 28 December 19 January Canberra Canberra & Sydney — — —
  Saudi Arabia 26 December 18 January Brisbane Brisbane & Melbourne — — —
  South Korea 27 December 31 January Brisbane Canberra & Brisbane Melbourne Sydney Sydney
  United Arab Emirates 26 December 30 January Gold Coast Canberra & Brisbane Sydney Newcastle Newcastle
  Uzbekistan 3 January 22 January Melbourne Sydney, Brisbane & Melbourne Melbourne — —

Match ball

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Main article: Nike Ordem 2

The Nike Ordem 2 was announced as the official 2015 Asian Cup match ball on 1 October 2014. The ball features the traditional colors of the tournament. The mainly white ball has a distinctive design with a mainly red graphic pattern and yellow details for better visibility. It shows the official 2015 AFC Asian Cup logo as well as a black Swoosh. The ball provided a design for real flight, accuracy and control, and features Nike Aerowtrac grooves and a micro-textured casing. Nike RaDaR (Rapid Decision and Response) technology with a unique graphic upper is also utilised in the design to see the ball faster while the three-layer synthetic upper made for optimal touch.[21]

Ordem 2 was the Asian Cup's last match ball provided by Nike.

Match officials

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On 1 January 2015, the AFC named 47 match officials for the tournament, including referees, assistant referees, fourth officials, and reserve assistant referees. Each main refereeing team (of which there were eleven) consisted of three match officials from the same country: one referee and two assistant referees.[22] The AFC decided three match officials from New Zealand would take part in the tournament, despite the country being in the Oceania Football Confederation. Match officials based together in Sydney, during the Asian Cup, where they trained together, had technical meetings, conduct match reviews and previews, and only split when attending appointments at the five Asian Cup stadiums in Canberra, Sydney, Newcastle, Brisbane and Melbourne.[23] Australian referee Chris Beath, who was a fourth official before the start of the tournament, was promoted for one match when Uzbek referee Valentin Kovalenko had to withdraw due to illness.[23]

Country Referee Assistant referees
  Australia Ben Williams Matthew Cream
Paul Cetrangolo
  Bahrain Nawaf Shukralla Yaser Tulefat
Ebrahim Saleh
  Iran Alireza Faghani Reza Sokhandan
Mohammad Reza Abolfazli
  Japan Ryuji Sato Toru Sagara
Toshiyuki Nagi
  New Zealand Peter O'Leary Jan-Hendrik Hintz
Mark Rule
  Oman Abdullah Al Hilali Hamad Al-Mayahi
Abu Bakar Al Amri
  Qatar Abdulrahman Abdou Taleb Al-Marri
Ramzan Al-Naemi
  Saudi Arabia Fahad Al-Mirdasi Badr Al-Shumrani
Abdulla Al Shalwai
  South Korea Kim Jong-hyeok Jeong Hae-Sang
Yoon Kwang-Yeol
  United Arab Emirates Abdulla Hassan Mohamed Mohamed Al Hammadi
Hasan Al Mahri
  Uzbekistan Ravshan Irmatov Abdukhamidullo Rasulov
Bakhadyr Kochkarov (  Kyrgyzstan)

Six match officials, who served as fourth officials, and eight reserve assistant referees, who served as fifth officials, were also named:

Squads

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Main article: 2015 AFC Asian Cup squads

As with the 2011 tournament, each team's squad consisted of 23 players (three of whom had to be goalkeepers). Each participating national association had to confirm their final 23-player squad no later than ten days before the start of the tournament.[24] Teams were permitted to make late replacements in the event of serious injury, at any time up to 6 hours before their first game. During a match, all remaining squad members not named in the starting team were available to be one of the three permitted substitutions (provided the player was not serving a suspension).

Group stage

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The group stage of the 2015 AFC Asian Cup took place from 9–20 January 2015: each team played three games, with the winners and runners-up from each group advancing to the knockout stage. The group stage was notable for finishing without a draw. In doing so, it became the first major international football tournament since the 1930 FIFA World Cup to record a result for every group stage match. Additionally, it surpassed the record of consecutive results at a tournament – 18 – also set at the 1930 World Cup.[25][26][27]

Group A

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Opening match, Australia vs Kuwait
Main article: 2015 AFC Asian Cup Group A
Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1   South Korea 3 3 0 0 3 0 +3 9 Advance to knockout stage
2   Australia (H) 3 2 0 1 8 2 +6 6
3   Oman 3 1 0 2 1 5 −4 3
4   Kuwait 3 0 0 3 1 6 −5 0
Source: Asian Cup Australia 2015
(H) Hosts
Australia  4–1  Kuwait
 Report
Attendance: 25,231
South Korea  1–0  Oman
 Report
Attendance: 12,552
Kuwait  0–1  South Korea
Report
Attendance: 8,795
Oman  0–4  Australia
Report
Attendance: 50,276
Referee: Ryuji Sato (Japan)
Australia  0–1  South Korea
Report
Attendance: 48,513
Oman  1–0  Kuwait
 Report
Attendance: 7,499

Group B

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Main article: 2015 AFC Asian Cup Group B
Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1   China 3 3 0 0 5 2 +3 9 Advance to knockout stage
2   Uzbekistan 3 2 0 1 5 3 +2 6
3   Saudi Arabia 3 1 0 2 5 5 0 3
4   North Korea 3 0 0 3 2 7 −5 0
Source: Asian Cup Australia 2015
Uzbekistan  1–0  North Korea
 Report
Attendance: 12,078
Saudi Arabia  0–1  China
Report
Attendance: 12,557
North Korea  1–4  Saudi Arabia
 Report
Attendance: 12,349
China  2–1  Uzbekistan
 Report
Attendance: 13,674
Uzbekistan  3–1  Saudi Arabia
 Report
Attendance: 10,871
China  2–1  North Korea
 Report
Attendance: 18,457

Group C

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Melbourne Rectangular Stadium during the Iran vs Bahrain match
Main article: 2015 AFC Asian Cup Group C
Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1   Iran 3 3 0 0 4 0 +4 9 Advance to knockout stage
2   United Arab Emirates 3 2 0 1 6 3 +3 6
3   Bahrain 3 1 0 2 3 5 −2 3
4   Qatar 3 0 0 3 2 7 −5 0
Source: Asian Cup Australia 2015
United Arab Emirates  4–1  Qatar
 Report
Attendance: 5,513
Iran  2–0  Bahrain
 Report
Attendance: 17,712
Bahrain  1–2  United Arab Emirates
 Report
Attendance: 7,925
Qatar  0–1  Iran
Report
Attendance: 22,672
Iran  1–0  United Arab Emirates
 Report
Attendance: 11,394
Referee: Ryuji Sato (Japan)
Qatar  1–2  Bahrain
 Report
Attendance: 4,841

Group D

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Main article: 2015 AFC Asian Cup Group D
Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification
1   Japan 3 3 0 0 7 0 +7 9 Advance to knockout stage
2   Iraq 3 2 0 1 3 1 +2 6
3   Jordan 3 1 0 2 5 4 +1 3
4   Palestine 3 0 0 3 1 11 −10 0
Source: Asian Cup Australia 2015
Japan  4–0  Palestine
 Report
Attendance: 17,147
Jordan  0–1  Iraq
Report
Attendance: 6,840
Palestine  1–5  Jordan
 Report
Attendance: 10,808
Iraq  0–1  Japan
Report
Attendance: 22,941
Japan  2–0  Jordan
 Report
Attendance: 25,016
Iraq  2–0  Palestine
 Report
Attendance: 10,235

Knockout stage

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Main article: 2015 AFC Asian Cup knockout stage
 
Newcastle Stadium prior the semi-final between Australia and the UAE.

In all matches in the knockout stage, if the score were level at the end of 90 minutes, two 15-minute periods of extra time would take place. If the score were still level after extra time, the match was decided by a penalty shoot-out.[24] Scores after extra time are indicated by (a.e.t.), and penalty shoot-out are indicated by (pen.).

 
Quarter-finalsSemi-finalsFinal
 
          
 
22 January – Melbourne
 
 
  South Korea (a.e.t.)2
 
26 January – Sydney
 
  Uzbekistan 0
 
  South Korea 2
 
23 January – Canberra
 
  Iraq 0
 
  Iran 3 (6)
 
31 January – Sydney
 
  Iraq (p)3 (7)
 
  South Korea 1
 
22 January – Brisbane
 
  Australia (a.e.t.)2
 
  China 0
 
27 January – Newcastle
 
  Australia 2
 
  Australia 2
 
23 January – Sydney
 
  United Arab Emirates 0 Third place
 
  Japan 1 (4)
 
30 January – Newcastle
 
  United Arab Emirates (p)1 (5)
 
  Iraq 2
 
 
  United Arab Emirates3
 

Quarter-finals

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With a 2–0 victory over Uzbekistan in extra time, South Korea set a tournament record for appearing in ten semi-finals. The host country, Australia, reached the final four for the second consecutive time after overcoming China PR by the same score. Iran were eliminated for the third consecutive time in an Asian Cup quarter-final after Iraq defeated Iran in a penalty shootout. The match had ended 3–3 after extra time, not before a sending off which reduced the Iranians to 10 men late in the first half. The United Arab Emirates eliminated reigning champions Japan through a penalty shoot-out following a 1–1 draw at the end of extra time, marking Japan's worst finish since 1996.

South Korea  2–0 (a.e.t.)  Uzbekistan
Son Heung-min   104', 119' Report
Attendance: 23,381
China  0–2  Australia
Report Cahill   48', 65'
Attendance: 46,067
Iran  3–3 (a.e.t.)  Iraq
Azmoun   24'
Pouraliganji   103'
Ghoochannejhad   119'		 Report Yasin   56'
Mahmoud   93'
Ismail   116' (pen.)
Penalties
Hajsafi  
Pouraliganji  
Nekounam  
Hosseini  
Ghafouri  
Jahanbakhsh  
Teymourian  
Amiri  		 6–7   Abdul-Amir
  Salem
  Ismail
  Adnan
  Mahmoud
  Kasim
  Hussein
  Shaker
Attendance: 18,921
Japan  1–1 (a.e.t.)  United Arab Emirates
Shibasaki   81' Report Mabkhout   7'
Penalties
Honda  
Hasebe  
Shibasaki  
Toyoda  
Morishige  
Kagawa  		 4–5   O. Abdulrahman
  Mabkhout
  Esmaeel
  Hassan
  Fardan
  I. Ahmed
Attendance: 19,094

Semi-finals

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South Korea reached their first final since 1988, after overcoming Iraq 2–0. With a 2–0 victory against the United Arab Emirates, Australia qualified for their second consecutive final out of only three appearances in the Asian Cup since moving to the Asian Football Confederation from the Oceania Football Confederation in 2006.

South Korea  2–0  Iraq
Lee Jung-hyup   20'
Kim Young-gwon   50'		 Report
Attendance: 36,053
Referee: Ryuji Sato (Japan)
Australia  2–0  United Arab Emirates
Sainsbury   3'
Davidson   14'		 Report
Attendance: 21,079

Third place match

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This was both Iraq's and the United Arab Emirates' second appearances in a third place playoff at the AFC Asian Cup, with the teams contesting in 1976 and 1992 respectively. The United Arab Emirates won the match 3–2 and finished in third-place for the first time.

Iraq  2–3  United Arab Emirates
Salim   28'
Kalaf   42'		 Report Khalil   16', 51'
Mabkhout   57' (pen.)
Attendance: 12,829

Final

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Main article: 2015 AFC Asian Cup Final

South Korea entered the match looking for their third Asian Cup title, whereas Australia attempted to win their first. After a late goal by Australia in the first half and another late goal by South Korea in the second half, the match was taken into extra time. Australia eventually won the match 2–1.

South Korea  1–2 (a.e.t.)  Australia
Son Heung-min   90+1' Report Luongo   45'
Troisi   105'
Attendance: 76,385

Statistics

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See also: AFC Asian Cup records and statistics

Goalscorers

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Ali Mabkhout of the United Arab Emirates received the Golden Boot award for scoring five goals. In total, 85 goals were scored by 57 different players, with two of them credited as own goals.

5 goals
4 goals
3 goals
2 goals
1 goal
1 own goal

Assists

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4 assists
3 assists
2 assists
1 assist

Discipline

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In the final tournament, a player was suspended for the subsequent match in the competition for either getting red card or accumulating two yellow cards in two different matches. The match review panel has the ability to increase the automatic one match ban for a red card (e.g. for violent conduct). Single yellow card cautions were erased at the conclusion of the quarter-finals, and were not carried over to the semi-finals (so that a player could only be suspended for the final by getting a red card in the semi-final). The following players were or are suspended during the final tournament – for one or more games – as a result of red cards or yellow card accumulations:

Player Offence Suspension
  Fahad Awadh   in qualification vs Iran
  in qualification vs Iran 		Group A vs Australia[28]
  Islom Tukhtakhodjaev     in qualification vs United Arab Emirates Group B vs North Korea[29]
  Ri Sang-chol Unsporting conduct towards a match official[a] Group B vs Uzbekistan
Group B vs Saudi Arabia
Group B vs China PR[30]
  Fahad Al-Muwallad   in qualification vs China PR
  in qualification vs Indonesia 		Group B vs China PR[31]
  Sun Ke   in qualification vs Iraq
  in qualification vs Iraq 		Group B vs Saudi Arabia[31]
  Ahmed Harbi     in Group D vs Japan Group D vs Jordan
  Anas Bani Yaseen     in Group D vs Iraq Group D vs Palestine
  Ri Yong-jik   in Group B vs Saudi Arabia Group B vs China PR
  Ren Hang   in Group B vs Saudi Arabia
  in Group B vs Uzbekistan 		Group B vs North Korea
  Alaa Abdul-Zahra   in Group D vs Jordan
  in Group D vs Japan 		Group D vs Palestine
  Matthew Spiranovic   in Group A vs Oman
  in Group A vs South Korea 		Quarter-final vs China PR
  Walid Abbas   in Group C vs Qatar
  in Group C vs Iran 		Quarter-final vs Japan
  Mehrdad Pooladi     in Quarter-final vs Iraq World Cup qualifying vs Turkmenistan
  Yaser Kasim   in Group D vs Jordan
  in Quarter-final vs Iran 		Semi-final vs South Korea
  Ahmad Ibrahim   in Third place match vs United Arab Emirates World Cup qualifying vs Chinese Taipei

Awards

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Most Valuable Player
Top Goalscorer
Best Goalkeeper
Fair Play Award
Team of the tournament

Four players from both the winning Australian team and the runner-up Korean team were selected in the team of the tournament by the organization committee, while the other players included were from a team which progressed to the semi-finals.[32][33]

Goalkeeper Defenders Midfielders Forwards

  Mathew Ryan

  Dhurgham Ismail
  Kwak Tae-hwi
  Trent Sainsbury
  Cha Du-Ri

  Massimo Luongo
  Omar Abdulrahman
  Ki Sung-Yeung

  Ali Mabkhout
  Tim Cahill
  Son Heung-Min

Final standings

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

Source: AFC Technical Report

Records

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The 2015 Asian Cup achieved 26 consecutive matches without a draw, the most of any major football tournament, breaking the previous record of 18 set at the 1930 FIFA World Cup in Uruguay.[34]

Ali Mabkhout broke the record for fastest goal at the AFC Asian Cup, scoring after just 14 seconds for the United Arab Emirates against Bahrain in their group stage match.[35]

Palestine made its first ever appearance in the Asian Cup, and Jaka Ihbeisheh scored the nation's first ever goal in an Asian Cup in their second group match against Jordan. This goal also marked for the first time a Slovene scored in an Asian Cup game, as Jaka's being Slovenian descent.

With the title, Australia became the first men's national team to win titles in two different confederations, having won the OFC Nations Cup four times before moving to the AFC.[36] Tim Cahill and Mark Bresciano became the first men's players to win two different confederation titles, having previously won the 2004 OFC Nations Cup.[37] By winning the Asian Cup, Australia also became the first country to simultaneously hold the AFC Asian Cup and AFC Champions League titles, following the triumph of Western Sydney Wanderers in the 2014 AFC Champions League.[38][39]

Marketing

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Trophy tour

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The Asian Cup on tour at Federation Square

The Trophy Tour commenced in China in September 2014, it then travelled to Qatar, United Arab Emirates, South Korea and Japan before arriving in Australia in December, where the trophy made it to all five 2015 AFC Asian Cup host cities.[40]

Opening ceremony

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Asian Cup opening ceremony

The opening ceremony of the 2015 AFC Asian Cup took place on 9 January, at the Melbourne Rectangular Stadium, before the opening match of the tournament between hosts Australia and Kuwait.[41] The ceremony was produced by a consortium of sport event specialists Twenty3 Sports + Entertainment and creative technology firm Spinifex Group. The consortium has worked on the main international sporting events including the 2010 Winter Olympics and the 2008 Summer Olympics opening ceremony.[42] The opening ceremony for the Asian Cup directed by Peter Nielson with Musical Direction by Chong Lim, and featured performances by Australian DJ, singer and dancer Havana Brown, Australian indie pop band Sheppard, Indigenous Australian musician Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu, and Australian hip-hop artists L-Fresh The Lion, Joelistics and Mistress of Ceremony.[43][44] It also featured 80 children from local junior football clubs and a performing cast of more than 120 Australian dancers, acrobats, Indigenous performers and football freestylers.[45]

Logo and mascot

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Nutmeg the Wombat, mascot of the cup at Federation Square

The official logo for the tournament was unveiled at a special event in Melbourne, in October 2012. Designed by Sydney agency, WiteKite.[46] The logo depicts a stylised player, kicking a football from the east coast of Australia across country towards Asia. The ball also represents the Australian summer sun arcing west from Australia to Asia. The four golden bands forming the map of Australia represent the four host cities. The design is embraced by the AFC holding device.[47]

The mascot of the tournament, "Nutmeg the Wombat", was unveiled at the Wild Life Sydney Zoo, on 11 November 2014.[48] The mascot, a wombat native to Australia, wore the colours of the 2015 AFC Asian Cup, red and yellow. It was named after the football trick where a player dribbles the ball through an opponent's legs, known as a nutmeg.

Song

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Theme song was Warrior by Havana Brown.

Sponsorship

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AFC announced ten official sponsors and six official supporters as shown below.[49]

Official sponsors Official supporters

Broadcasting

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The tournament was broadcast live by around 80 TV channels covering the whole world.[50] 800 million people were expected to watch matches,[16] with the tournament reaching a potential TV audience of more than 2.5 billion people.[51] Below is the list of confirmed broadcasting right holders for 2015 AFC Asian Cup.

Territory Channel Ref
  Arab League beIN Sports [50]
Asia-Pacific Fox International Channels [50]
  Australia Fox Sports, ABC [52]
  Brazil SporTV, Band [50]
  China CCTV [53]
Europe Eurosport [50]
  Hong Kong Now TV [53]
  India Star Sports [53]
  Indonesia Sindo TV [53]
  Iran IRIB [53]
  Japan TV Asahi, NHK BS1 [50]
  Malaysia TV3 [50]
  New Zealand Sky Sport [53]
North America ONE World Sports [50]
  South Africa SABC [53]
  South Korea KBS, SBS, MBC [50]
  Thailand Channel 7 [50]
  Philippines ABS-CBN Sports+Action [50]
United States One World Sports [54]
  Uzbekistan SPORT-UZ [53]

Controversies

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Due to a hostage taking in Sydney in December 2014, security was increased for all team bases and stadiums, in addition to police escorts for all official activities.[55]

During a doping test, Jordan's Ahmad Hayel was required to drink so much water to produce a urine sample, that he developed hypothermia and was rendered unconscious.[56] Jordan coach Ray Wilkins was infuriated at Asian Cup officials over the procedure.[57]

On 24 January 2015, following the country's elimination from the tournament, it was revealed that the Iranian Football Federation (FFIRI) had lodged a formal complaint to FIFA against their quarter-final opponent. The complaint was regarding the eligibility of Iraqi midfielder Alaa Abdul-Zahra, with the FFIRI arguing that the player should not have been allowed to play due to him submitting a positive doping test while playing for an Iranian club side in 2014. According to documents seen by Agence France-Presse, the 27-year-old tested positive for the banned stimulant methylhexanamine, in results that were verified by a WADA-approved laboratory in Cologne.[58] In an email exchange dated September 2014, FIFA promised to take action, but there is no record of a suspension for Abdul-Zahra.[58] The Iranian national team remained in Australia whilst awaiting a response from FIFA and a final decision by the AFC disciplinary committee.[59] On 25 January, the AFC disciplinary committee decided that the FFIRI protest was unfounded, and, therefore, dismissed the case, with Iraq, cleared to take its place in their semi-final match against South Korea the following day.[60]

On 29 January 2015, after the defeat of Iraq and the United Arab Emirates during the 2015 AFC Asian Cup, West Asian Football Federation members reportedly sought to remove Australia from the AFC primarily due to "Australia benefiting hugely from Asian involvement without giving much in return", the resentment grew in the aftermath of Australia's conquest of the tournament.[61]

Notes

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  1. ^ Offence committed in 2012 Summer Olympics second round qualification vs United Arab Emirates.

References

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