1996–97 Asian Club Championship

The 1996–97 Asian Club Championship was the 16th edition of the annual international club football competition held in the AFC region (Asia). It determined that year's club champion of association football in Asia.

1996–1997 Asian Club Championship
Tournament details
Dates?? 1996 – March 1997
Teams26
Venue(s)Shan Alam (final round)
Final positions
ChampionsSouth Korea Pohang Steelers (1st title)
Runners-upSouth Korea Cheonan Ilhwa Chunma
Third placeIran Persepolis
Fourth placeIraq Al-Zawraa
Tournament statistics
Matches played51
Goals scored155 (3.04 per match)
Top scorer(s)South Korea Park Tae-Ha
Best player(s)South Korea An Ik-Soo
Fair play awardIraq Al-Zawraa
1995

Pohang Steelers of South Korea won the final and became Asian champions for the first time after beating Cheonan Ilhwa Chunma in the first ever Asian top club tournament that ended in a one-country final.

First round

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West Asia

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Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
FK Neftchy Farg'ona   8–2   Pamir Dushanbe 4–1 4–1
AiK Bishkek   3–6   Yelimay Semipalatinsk 2–4 1–2
Köpetdag Aşgabat   0–1   Persepolis 0–0 0–1
Kazma   10–1   Dhofar 9–0 1–1
West Riffa   2-4   Nejmeh 2–1 0–3
Al-Nassr   w/o1   Al-Sharjah
Al-Rayyan   bye
Al-Zawraa   bye

1 Al-Sharjah withdrew.

East Asia

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Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Shanghai Shenhua   9–2   Instant-Dict FC 7–1 2–1
Công an Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh   1–2   Johor F.C. 0–1 1–1(a.e.t.)
JCT FC   2–2 (4–2p)   New Road Team 1–1 1–1
PSM Makassar   1–4   Pohang Steelers 1–0 0–4
New Radiant   1–0   Pettah United SC 1–0 n/p1
Yokohama Marinos   w/o2   GD Artilheiros
Cheonan Ilhwa Chunma   bye
Thai Farmers Bank FC   bye

1 The 2nd leg was cancelled due to political violence in Sri Lanka.
2 GD Artilheiros withdrew.

Second round

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West Asia

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Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Al-Zawraa   3–1   FK Neftchy Farg'ona 1–0 2–1
Yelimay Semipalatinsk   3–5   Persepolis 3–0 0–5
Nejmeh   1–4   Al-Nassr 1–0 0–4
Al-Kazma   1–2   Al-Rayyan 0–1 1–1

East Asia

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Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Cheonan Ilhwa Chunma   1–0   Shanghai Shenhua 0–0 1–0
Yokohama Marinos   3–1   Johor F.C. 2–0 1–1
JCT FC   1–2   New Radiant 1–0 0–2
Thai Farmers Bank FC   1–5   Pohang Steelers 1–3 0–2

Quarterfinals

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West Asia

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Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
  Persepolis 3 2 0 1 6 5 +1 6
  Al-Zawraa 3 1 1 1 3 2 +1 4
  Al-Nassr 3 1 1 1 4 4 0 4
  Al-Rayyan 3 1 0 2 3 5 −2 3
Source: [citation needed]
Al-Rayyan  2–1  Al-Nassr
  • Essa   55'
  • Al-Enazi   62'
Abdullah   72'

Persepolis  2–1  Al-Zawraa
Abbas   71'

Al-Nassr  3–2  Persepolis
Kennedy   70', 87', 89'

Al-Zawraa  2–0  Al-Rayyan
Attiya   40'
Mahdi   55'

Al-Rayyan  1–2  Persepolis
Mutlaq   65' Azizi   44', 89'

East Asia

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Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
  Cheonan Ilhwa Chunma 3 2 1 0 12 2 +10 7
  Pohang Steelers 3 1 2 0 8 2 +6 5
  Yokohama Marinos 3 1 1 1 14 5 +9 4
  New Radiant 3 0 0 3 0 25 −25 0
Source: [citation needed]
Cheonan Ilhwa Chunma  9–0  New Radiant

Pohang Steelers  2–2  Yokohama Marinos

New Radiant  0–6  Pohang Steelers

Yokohama Marinos  2–3  Cheonan Ilhwa Chunma

Yokohama Marinos  10–0  New Radiant

Knockout Stage

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Bracket

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Semi-finalsFinal
 
      
 
7 March – Shah Alam
 
 
  Persepolis1
 
9 March – Shah Alam
 
  Pohang Steelers 3
 
  Pohang Steelers (a.s.d.e.t.) 2
 
7 March – Shah Alam
 
  Cheonan Ilhwa Chunma 1
 
  Cheonan Ilhwa Chunma 1
 
 
  Al-Zawraa 0
 
Third place play-off
 
 
9 March – Shah Alam
 
 
  Persepolis 4
 
 
  Al-Zawraa 1

Semifinals

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Third place match

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Persepolis  4–1  Al-Zawraa
Fawzi   8'

Final

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Source:[1]

Awards

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Award[2] Player Team
Sanyo Most Valuable Player   An Ik-Soo   Pohang Steelers
Coca-Cola Best Defender   An Ik-Soo   Pohang Steelers
Diadora Top Goalscorer   Park Tae-Ha   Pohang Steelers
Snickers Fair Play Award   Al-Zawraa

References

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  1. ^ "Pohang's golden goal tilts it". New Straits Times. 10 March 1997. Retrieved 1 November 2021.
  2. ^ "1996 ASIAN CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP". Asian Football Confederation. 7 July 1997. Archived from the original on 7 July 1997.