Soccer Asian Cup 2011

Soccer Asian Cup 2011
AFC Asian Cup 2011
Number of nations	16  (of 43 applicants)
Asian champion	Japan (4th title)
venue	Qatar
Opening game	January 7, 2011
Endgame	January 29, 2011
Games	32
Gates	90  (⌀: 2.81 per game)
spectator	404,567  (⌀: 12,643 per game)
Top scorer	Koo Ja-cheol (5 goals)
Best player	Keisuke Honda
yellow cards	118  (⌀: 3.69 per game)
Yellow-red cards	6  (⌀: 0.19 per game)
Red cards	3  (⌀: 0.09 per game)

The 15th Asian Football Championship was held in Qatar from January 7th to 29th, 2011 . The official name of the event is AFC Asian Cup 2011 ™ . Sixteen national teams competed against each other first in the group stage in four groups and then in the knockout system .

Japan beat Australia 1-0 after extra time in the final and represented the Asian continent at the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup in Brazil.
In addition to Japan, Australia and third-placed South Korea , who defeated Uzbekistan 3-2 in the game for third place , have also qualified for the 2015 Asian Cup.

The Japanese Keisuke Honda was voted the best player of the tournament ; The top scorer was the South Korean Koo Ja-cheol , who scored a total of 5 goals.

host

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) announced the host of the tournament on July 28, 2007 in Jakarta . Qatar was the only remaining applicant after the other two interested parties India and Iran withdrew. Qatar hosted an Asian football championship for the second time since 1988 .

Venues

Doha ar-Rayyan

Venues

The tournament was played in a total of five stadiums. Four of the stadiums are in the capital, Doha , and one in ar-Rayyan .

• The Khalifa International Stadium , built in 1976, is the largest stadium for the finals with 40,000 seats. In addition to the host's three preliminary round games, including the opening game against Uzbekistan, the Khalifa Stadium also hosted a quarter-final, semi-final and the final.
• The Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium can seat up to 13,500 spectators. The stadium, built in 1986 and completely renovated in 2004, was the venue for three preliminary round games, a quarter-finals and the third-place match.
• The Al-Gharafa Stadium served as the venue for six preliminary round, one quarter-final and one semi-final game. Up to 22,000 spectators can watch the games in the stadium, which was built in 1979.
• In the Qatar SC Stadium , in addition to six preliminary round games, a quarter-final game was played. The stadium, which was built in 1961 and renovated in 2005 for the 2006 Asian Games, has a capacity of 12,500.
• The Ahmed bin Ali Stadium is the only venue outside Doha. The stadium, built in 1967, was the venue for six preliminary round games, which can be watched by up to 22,000 spectators.

Tickets

Official ticket sales on the Internet began on June 25, 2010, with a total of 550,000 tickets being offered for the games. The ticket design was also presented on that day. The prices for the tickets ranged from 5 to 150 Qatari riyals (approx. 1 to 32 euros ). The tickets were sold on tickets.afcasiancup.com.

Despite the low prices, many seats in the stadiums remained empty, and the host's games were not sold out either.

Attendees

Qualification phase

→ Main article : Qualifying for the 2011 Asian Cup

The host qualified directly for the tournament, along with the top three finishers in the 2007 Asian Cup and the winners of the AFC Challenge Cup in 2008 and 2010 . The remaining ten participants were determined in the qualification.

The 21 registered teams were placed according to their results in the qualification for the 2007 Asian Cup and its final round. The 19 highest ranked teams went straight to the second round, while the last two teams had to play in the first round to reach the group stage. In the second round, the teams were now divided into five groups of four teams each and had to compete against each other in home and away games. The two best in the group qualified for the finals.

Qualification began in April 2008 with the play-off games and ended on March 3, 2010.

Final round draw

The group stage draw was held on April 23, 2010 at the Aspire Dome in Doha.

For the draw, the qualified teams were divided into four pots. The results of the last Asian Cup were again used to create this. In the first pot were the host's team, which was set as the group head of group A. Defending champions Iraq, Saudi Arabia and South Korea added to the first lottery pot. The remaining qualified teams were allocated to the remaining pots according to their 2007 results.

• Lottery pot 1 : Qatar, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, South Korea
• Lottery pot 2 : Japan, Australia, Iran, Uzbekistan
• Lottery pot 3 : China, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Jordan
• Lottery pot 4 : Syria, Kuwait, India, North Korea

The draw resulted in the following group allocation:

Group A	Group B	Group C	Group D
Qatar	Saudi Arabia	South Korea	Iraq
Uzbekistan	Japan	Australia	Iran
China	Jordan	Bahrain	UA Emirates
Kuwait	Syria	India	North Korea

Squad

→ Main article : 2011 Asian Football Championship / squad

Preliminary round

Group A

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Uzbekistan	3	2	1	0	006: 300	+3	07th
2.	Qatar	3	2	0	1	005: 200	+3	06th
3.	China	3	1	1	1	004: 400	± 0	04th
4th	Kuwait	3	0	0	3	001: 700	−6	00

January 7, 2011 at 7:15 pm (local time) (5:15 pm CET ) in Al-Khalifa
Qatar	-	Uzbekistan	0: 2 (0: 0)
January 8, 2011 at 4:15 pm (2:15 pm) in Al-Gharrafa
Kuwait	-	China	0: 2 (0: 0)
January 12, 2011 at 4:15 pm (2:15 pm) in Al-Gharrafa
Uzbekistan	-	Kuwait	2: 1 (1: 0)
January 12, 2011 at 7:15 pm (5:15 pm) in Al-Khalifa
China	-	Qatar	0: 2 (0: 2)
January 16, 2011 at 7:15 pm (5:15 pm) in Al-Khalifa
Qatar	-	Kuwait	3: 0 (2: 0)
January 16, 2011 at 7:15 pm (5:15 pm) in Al-Gharrafa
China	-	Uzbekistan	2: 2 (1: 1)

Group B

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Japan	3	2	1	0	008: 200	+6	07th
2.	Jordan	3	2	1	0	004: 200	+2	07th
3.	Syria	3	1	0	2	004: 500	−1	03
4th	Saudi Arabia	3	0	0	3	001: 800	−7	00

January 9, 2011 at 4:15 pm (local time) (2:15 pm CET ) in Qatar SC
Japan	-	Jordan	1: 1 (0: 1)
January 9, 2011 at 7:15 pm (5:15 pm) in Al-Rayyan
Saudi Arabia	-	Syria	1: 2 (0: 1)
January 13, 2011 at 4:15 pm (2:15 pm) in Qatar SC
Jordan	-	Saudi Arabia	1: 0 (1: 0)
January 13, 2011 at 7:15 pm (5:15 pm) in Al-Rayyan
Syria	-	Japan	1: 2 (0: 1)
January 17, 2011 at 4:15 pm (2:15 pm) in Qatar SC
Jordan	-	Syria	2: 1 (1: 1)
January 17, 2011 at 4:15 pm (2:15 pm) in Al-Rayyan
Saudi Arabia	-	Japan	0: 5 (0: 3)

Group C

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Australia	3	2	1	0	006: 100	+5	07th
2.	South Korea	3	2	1	0	007: 300	+4	07th
3.	Bahrain	3	1	0	2	006: 500	+1	03
4th	India	3	0	0	3	003:130	−10	00

January 10, 2011 at 4:15 p.m. (local time) (2:15 p.m. CET ) in Al-Sadd
India	-	Australia	0: 4 (0: 3)
January 10, 2011 at 7:15 pm (5:15 pm) in Al-Gharrafa
South Korea	-	Bahrain	2: 1 (1: 0)
January 14, 2011 at 4:15 pm (2:15 pm) in Al-Gharrafa
Australia	-	South Korea	1: 1 (0: 1)
January 14, 2011 at 7:15 pm (5:15 pm) in Al-Sadd
Bahrain	-	India	5: 2 (4: 1)
January 18, 2011 at 4:15 pm (2:15 pm) in Al-Sadd
Australia	-	Bahrain	1: 0 (1: 0)
January 18, 2011 at 4:15 pm (2:15 pm) in Al-Gharrafa
South Korea	-	India	4: 1 (3: 1)

Group D

Pl.	country	Sp.	S.	U	N	Gates	Diff.	Points
1.	Iran	3	3	0	0	006: 100	+5	09
2.	Iraq	3	2	0	1	003: 200	+1	06th
3.	North Korea	3	0	1	2	000: 200	−2	01
4th	UA Emirates	3	0	1	2	000: 400	−4	01

January 11, 2011 at 4:15 pm (local time) (2:15 pm CET ) in Qatar SC
North Korea	-	UA Emirates	0-0
January 11, 2011 at 7:15 pm (5:15 pm) in Al-Rayyan
Iraq	-	Iran	1: 2 (1: 1)
January 15, 2011 at 4:15 pm (2:15 pm) in Qatar SC
Iran	-	North Korea	1: 0 (0: 0)
January 15, 2011 at 7:15 pm (5:15 pm) in Al-Rayyan
UA Emirates	-	Iraq	0: 1 (0: 0)
January 19, 2011 at 7:15 pm (5:15 pm) in Qatar SC
UA Emirates	-	Iran	0: 3 (0: 0)
January 19, 2011 at 7:15 pm (5:15 pm) in Al-Rayyan
Iraq	-	North Korea	1: 0 (1: 0)

Final round

In the quarter and semi-finals, in the game for third place and in the final, the knockout system was used . If the games in the final round were tied after the regular playing time of 90 minutes, there was an extension of 15 minutes twice and possibly (if there was still no winner) a penalty shoot-out .

	Quarter finals				Semifinals				final
	January 21, 2011, 7:25 pm
	Uzbekistan	2
					January 25, 2011, 7:25 p.m.
	Jordan	1
					Uzbekistan	0
	January 22, 2011, 4:25 pm
					Australia	6th
	Australia	01 1
									January 29, 2011, 6:00 p.m.
	Iraq	0
									Australia	0
	January 21, 2011, 4:25 pm
									Japan	01 1
	Japan	3
					January 25, 2011, 4:25 pm
	Qatar	2
					Japan	02 (3) 2			Game for third place
	January 22, 2011, 7:25 p.m.
					South Korea	2 (0)
	Iran	0							Uzbekistan	2
	South Korea	01 1							South Korea	3
									January 28, 2011, 6:00 p.m.

¹ win after extra time

² victory on penalties

Quarter finals

January 21, 2011 at 4:25 pm (local time) (2:25 pm CET ) in Al-Gharafa
Japan	-	Qatar	3: 2 (1: 1)
January 21, 2011 at 7:25 pm (5:25 pm) in Al-Khalifa
Uzbekistan	-	Jordan	2: 1 (0: 0)
January 22, 2011 at 4:25 pm (2:25 pm) in Al-Sadd
Australia	-	Iraq	1: 0 a.d.
January 22, 2011 at 7:25 pm (5:25 pm) in Qatar SC
Iran	-	South Korea	0: 1 a.d.

Semifinals

January 25, 2011 at 4:25 pm (2:25 pm) in Al-Gharafa
Japan	-	South Korea	2: 2 n.V. (1: 1, 1: 1), 3: 0 i. E.
January 25, 2011 at 7:25 pm (5:25 pm) in Al-Khalifa
Uzbekistan	-	Australia	0: 6 (0: 2)

Game for third place

January 28, 2011 at 6:00 p.m. (4:00 p.m.) in Al-Sadd
Uzbekistan	-	South Korea	2: 3 (1: 3)

final

January 29, 2011 at 6:00 p.m. (4:00 p.m.) in Al-Khalifa
Australia	-	Japan	0: 1 a.d.

Best goal scorers

rank	player	Gates
1	Koo Ja-cheol	5
2	Ismaeel Abdullatif	4th
	Ji Dong-won	4th
4th	Harry Kewell	3
	Ryōichi Maeda	3
	Shinji Okazaki	3
	Alexander Heinrich	3

There are also 11 players with two and 40 players with one goal each and three own goals.

referee

Abdulrahman Mohammed Abdou Ali Al Badwawi Mohamed Benouza Ravshan Ermatov Khalil Ibrahim Al Ghamdi Abdullah al-Hilali Kim Dong-jin

Abdul Malik Subkhiddin Mohd Salleh Yūichi Nishimura Nawaf Shukralla Mohsen Torky Ben Williams

Web links

• Official website of the Asian Football Association (English, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Arabic, Persian)
• Technical Report of the Asian Football Confederation for Asia Cup 2011 (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ AFC Calendar of Competitions 2011 ( Memento of the original from January 6, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
2. ↑ fifa.com: Qatar to host Asian Cup 2011 (July 29, 2007)
3. ↑ AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2011 ™ Media Guide - Stadium  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
4. ↑ the-afc.com: AFC Asian Cup ticket unveiled , July 26, 2010.
5. ↑ bemils.com: AFC Asian Cup 2011: here's the box office ( Memento of the original from May 14, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , July 25, 2010 
6. ↑ 11 Friends: Qatar's test run for the World Cup '22 , January 20, 2011
7. ↑ the-afc.com: AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2011 ™ Finals Draw at the Dome , March 25, 2010
8. ↑ the-afc.com: AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2011 ™ Finals draw mechanics , April 22, 2010