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
Teams	26
Venue(s)	Shan Alam (final round)
Final positions
Champions	Pohang Steelers (1st title)
Runners-up	Cheonan Ilhwa Chunma
Third place	Persepolis
Fourth place	Al-Zawraa
Tournament statistics
Matches played	51
Goals scored	155 (3.04 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Park Tae-Ha
Best player(s)	An Ik-Soo
Fair play award	Al-Zawraa
← 1995 1997–98 →

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

West Asia

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

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

West Asia

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

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

West Asia

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'

8 November 1996

Doha, Qatar

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Persepolis	2–1	Al-Zawraa
Shahroudi 39' Bezik 75'		Abbas 71'

8 November 1996

Doha, Qatar

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Al-Nassr	3–2	Persepolis
Kennedy 70', 87', 89'		Bezik 62' Azizi 75'

10 November 1996

Khalifa International Stadium, Doha, Qatar

Referee: Saad Kamil Al-Fadhli (Kuwait)

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

10 November 1996

Doha, Qatar

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

12 November 1996

Doha, Qatar

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Al-Nassr	0–0	Al-Zawraa

12 November 1996

Khalifa International Stadium, Doha Qatar

Referee: Russamee Jindamai (Thailand)

East Asia

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
Sang-Yoon 15' Dong-Gun 37', 59' Hwang Yeon-SeokYeon-Seok 44' Ki-Beom 51' Jung-Guk 68', 73' Stepouchkine 69' Agbo 89'

24 November 1996

Daegu, South Korea

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Pohang Steelers	2–2	Yokohama Marinos
Young-Sang 48' Bogdanović 75'		Acosta 32' Miura 39'

24 November 1996

Daegu, South Korea

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New Radiant	0–6	Pohang Steelers
		Jin-Ho 32', 49' (p), 83', 89' Konovalov 34', 61'

26 November 1996

Daegu, South Korea

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Yokohama Marinos	2–3	Cheonan Ilhwa Chunma
Acosta 34' Noda 57'		Sang-Yoon 14', 51' Yeon-Seok 60'

26 November 1996

Daegu, South Korea

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Yokohama Marinos	10–0	New Radiant
Suzuki 4' Acosta 12', 28', 38', 57', 89' Terakawa 13', 35' Ueno 40' Hirama 75'

28 November 1996

Daegu, South Korea

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Pohang Steelers	0–0	Cheonan Ilhwa Chunma

28 November 1996

Daegu, South Korea

Knockout Stage

Bracket

	Semi-finals				Final
	7 March – Shah Alam
	Persepolis	1
					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

Persepolis	1–3	Pohang Steelers
Azizi 88'		Park Tae-Ha 9', 86' Golmohammadi 55' (o.g.)

7 March 1997

Shah Alam Stadium, Shah Alam, Malaysia

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Cheonan Ilhwa Chunma	1–0	Al-Zawraa
Chang-Won 42'

7 March 1997

Shah Alam Stadium, Shah Alam, Malaysia

Third place match

Persepolis	4–1	Al-Zawraa
Bezik 20' Mahdavikia 30' Bagheri 65', 80'		Fawzi 8'

9 March 1997

Shah Alam Stadium, Shah Alam, Malaysia

Final

Source:^[1]

Pohang Steelers	2–1 (a.s.d.e.t.)	Cheonan Ilhwa Chunma
Park Tae-Ha 78' Park Ji-Ho 117' (p)		Hong Jong-Kyoung 79'

9 March 1997

Shah Alam Stadium, Shah Alam, Malaysia

Referee: Nik Ahmad (Malaysia)

Awards

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

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.

• Asian Club Competitions 1997 at RSSSF.com