Five great goals from the Asian Cup:
- Tim Cahill (AUS) v China
The Socceroos talisman was virtually anonymous in the first half of this quarter-final but when his country needed him most he answered the call. With the score locked at 0-0 Cahill pulled off a stunning bicycle-kick from a tight angle which flew past Chinese goalkeeper Wang Dalei four minutes after the break. He cheekily said afterwards that it wasn't even the best bicycle-kick he had scored in his illustrious career as Australia marched into the last-four.
- Sardar Azmoun (IRI) v Qatar
Moments of individual skill proved decisive for Iran but Azmoun's winner in the 1-0 triumph over Qatar was the pick of the bunch. Receiving the ball on the edge of the box and with defender Abdelkarim Hassan in close attention, the 20-year-old Rubin Kazan striker seemed unlikely to score. But stretching out his right boot, he flicked the ball back between his legs, past the flummoxed Hassan and into space in the box, before driving forwards and poking it into the bottom right for a terrific goal.
- Ali Mabkhout (UAE) v Bahrain
The Emirates frontman smashed the record books when he found the net after just 14 seconds for the fastest goal in Asian Cup history. Omar Abdulrahman clipped a superb ball over the top of Bahrain's defence and Mabkhout calmly controlled it with his right foot before slotting past goalkeeper Sayed Abbas with his left. Quick goals have been scored at the competition before, notably China's Xie Yuxin in 1992 and Kuwaiti Fat'hi Kameil in 1976 which both came in the first minute, but organisers said Mabkhout's was the quickest ever.
- Yaser Kasim (IRQ) v Jordan
The young Iraqi evoked memories of days passed when he jinked past three defenders to score a magical winner in their Group D clash in Brisbane. Slaloming runs are rare in the modern game but Kasim twisted and turned his way through the Jordanian rearguard before netting the game's only goal. The effect was only slightly mitigated by the half-hearted challenges against the Swindon Town midfielder and the fact that his shot deflected off the boot of a fourth defender.
- Omar Abdulrahman (UAE) v Japan
This classy number 10 lit up the Asian Cup as UAE stormed to third place and there was seemingly nothing he couldn't do with the ball. The curly-haired star proved it in the quarter-final, with an audacious chipped "panenka" penalty in UAE's shock win over Japan. The 23-year-old floated in the Emirates' first spot kick of the penalty shootout -- and boss Mahdi Ali later told him never to do it again because it almost gave him a heart attack.
Source: AFP
