On 21 December 1996, Saudi Arabia won their record-setting third AFC Asian Cup, beating the UAE on penalties.
It was the first final for the UAE, but the fourth for the Saudis, who won the tournament in 1984 and 1988, then finished as runners-up in 1992. The final was part of a double-header at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi, where Iran won the earlier third-place match in a penalty shootout against Kuwait (although Iran missed their first attempt Kuwait missed the last three of their five kicks to lose 1-1 (3-2)).
The crowd of 60,000 stayed for the final and watched the two teams play to a scoreless draw before going into another shootout--the third consecutive one of the tournament, as Saudi Arabia beat Iran on penalties in the last semifinal. The experience may have provided an edge, as Saudi Arabia--anchored by goalkeeper Mohamed Al-Deayea (pictured)--went on to win the shootout in the final, 2-4.
At the time, Saudi Arabia's three titles matched the record set by Iran in 1976. Since then, however, Japan has taken sole possession of the record with four championships between 1992 and 2011.
On 29 October 2000, Japan won their second Asian Cup, beating Saudi Arabia in a rematch of the 1992 final.
Saudi Arabia were the defending champions, having won the 1996 tournament in the United Arab Emirates. They stumbled in their opening match, losing to Japan 1-4, but they rallied to reach the knockout rounds where they advanced with narrow wins over Kuwait and South Korea. Japan, meanwhile, won their group, then reached the final with wins over Iraq and Indonesia.
Playing before a crowd of 47,000 at Beirut's Sports City Stadium, Saudi Arabia had a chance to take an early lead with a penalty kick, bit the shot went wide. Shortly afterward, Japanese midfielder Shigeyoshi Mochizuki (pictured) scored the game's only goal in the 30th minute with a volley off a free kick. It gave his team a 1-0 victory, the same scoreline from their win over Saudi Arabia in 1992.
Japan repeated as champions in 2004 and won a third cup in 2011.
On 17 January 2009, Oman won their first Gulf Cup of Nations, beating Saudi Arabia on penalties.
It was the third consecutive appearance in the final for Oman, who lost to Qatar on penalties in 2004 and to the United Arab Emirates in 2007. Omani keeper Ali Al Habsi starred in both of those tournaments, however, and received two Best Goalkeeper awards to go along with the one he won in 2003 when Oman finished fourth.
Al Habsi continued to shine in 2009 as Oman kept a clean sheet all the way up to the final. There, they met Saudi Arabia, who--playing in front of keeper Waleed Abdullah--had similarly not given up a goal for the entire tournament. Although Oman controlled the run of play for most of the final, the defenses proved too resolute as the teams completed 120 minutes with a scoreless draw to set up the decisive shootout.
After five kicks each, the teams were level at 5-5. Then Saudi Arabian midfielder Taisir Al Jassim sent his shot wide. The miss opened the door for Oman's Mohamad Rabih, who calmly beat Abdullah to claim the cup. For his part in the victorious campaign, Al Habsi won his fourth straight Best Goalkeeper award.
On 29 July 2007, Iraq defeated Saudi Arabia 1-0 before a crowd of 60,000 at the Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta to claim their first AFC Asian Cup title. The 2007 tournament was co-hosted by four countries—Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam.
Organized by the Asian Football Confederation, the Asian Cup was first played in 1956 and is usually played every four years. The AFC scheduled the 2007 tournament, however, only three years after the previous tournament in order to move the Cup off the same cycle as the Summer Olympics and the UEFA European Championship.
In the group stage, Iraq drew against Thailand (1-1) and Oman (0-0). In between, they beat newcomers Australia—who had just joined the AFC in January 2006—by the score of 3-1. Iraq advanced as group leaders, with Australia progressing as second-place finishers.
In the first knockout round, Iraq eliminated Vietnam (2-0), setting up a semi-final match against tournament favorites South Korea. The Korean side had advanced by defeating Iran on penalties, 0-0 (4-2), and forced the semi-final into penalties before falling to Iraq, 0-0 (4-3). (South Korea proceeded to win the third-place match, again on penalties, by defeating holders Japan, 0-0 (6-5)).
In the Final, Iraqi forward and captain Younis Mahmoud scored the match's only goal in the 72nd minute, giving the Iraqis their first major trophy since the beginning of the Gulf War.
On 21 December 1996, Saudi Arabia won their record-settting third AFC Asian Cup, beating the UAE on penalties.
It was the first final for the UAE, but the fourth for the Saudis, who won the tournament in 1984 and 1988, then finished as runners-up in 1992. The final was part of a double-header at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi, where Iran won the earlier third-place match in a penalty shootout against Kuwait (although Iran missed their first attempt Kuwait missed the last three of their five kicks to lose 1-1 (3-2)).
The crowd of 60,000 stayed for the final and watched the two teams play to a scoreless draw before going into another shootout--the third consecutive one of the tournament, as Saudi Arabia beat Iran on penalties in the last semifinal. The experience may have provided an edge, as Saudi Arabia--anchored by goalkeeper Mohamed Al-Deayea (pictured)--went on to win the shootout in the final, 2-4.
At the time, Saudi Arabia's three titles matched the record set by Iran in 1976. Since then, however, Japan has taken sole possession of the record with four championships between 1992 and 2011.
On 29 October 2000, Japan won their second Asian Cup, beating Saudi Arabia in a rematch of the 1992 final.
Saudi Arabia were the defending champions, having won the 1996 tournament in the United Arab Emirates. They stumbled in their opening match, losing to Japan 1-4, but they rallied to reach the knockout rounds where they advanced with narrow wins over Kuwait and South Korea. Japan, meanwhile, won their group, then reached the final with wins over Iraq and Indonesia.
Playing before a crowd of 47,000 at Beirut's Sports City Stadium, Saudi Arabia had a chance to take an early lead with a penalty kick, bit the shot went wide. Shortly afterward, Japanese midfielder Shigeyoshi Mochizuki (pictured) scored the game's only goal in the 30th minute with a volley off a free kick. It gave his team a 1-0 victory, the same scoreline from their win over Saudi Arabia in 1992.
Japan repeated as champions in 2004 and are the current holders after winning a third cup in 2011.
On 17 January 2009, Oman won their first Gulf Cup of Nations, beating Saudi Arabia on penalties.
It was the third consecutive appearance in the final for Oman, who lost to Qatar on penalties in 2004 and to the United Arab Emirates in 2007. Omani keeper Ali Al Habsi starred in both of those tournaments, however, and received two Best Goalkeeper awards to go along with the one he won in 2003 when Oman finished fourth.
Al Habsi continued to shine in 2009 as Oman kept a clean sheet all the way up to the final. There, they met Saudi Arabia, who--playing in front of keeper Waleed Abdullah--had similarly not given up a goal for the entire tournament. Although Oman controlled the run of play for most of the final, the defenses proved too resolute as the teams completed 120 minutes with a scoreless draw to set up the decisive shootout.
After five kicks each, the teams were level at 5-5. Then Saudi Arabian midfielder Taisir Al Jassim sent his shot wide. The miss opened the door for Oman's Mohamad Rabih, who calmly beat Abdullah to claim the cup. For his part in the victorious campaign, Al Habsi won his fourth straight Best Goalkeeper award.
On 4 August 1999, host nation Mexico beat Brazil 4-3 in the Confederations Cup Final before a crowd of 110,000 at Mexico City's Estadio Azteca. The tournament was the fourth Confederations Cup, which typically includes the winners of the six FIFA confederations (CAF, CONMEBOL, UEFA, AFC, OFC, and CONCACAF) as well as the World Cup holders and the host country.
For the 1999 tournament, World Cup holders France declined to participate, so World Cup runners-up Brazil filled that slot. Brazil were also CONMEBOL champions, however, so CONMEBOL runners-up Bolivia took that confederation's qualifying spot. Similarly, because CONCACAF champions Mexico qualified as hosts, the United States filled the CONCACAF slot as the second-place team. They were joined by Egypt (CAF champions), Germany (UEFA champions), New Zealand (OFC champions), and Saudi Arabia (AFC champions).
The Final featured a showdown between the tournament's two best players—Brazilian midfielder Ronaldinho and Mexican midfielder Cuauhtémoc Blanco. Ronaldinho had scored in every match for Brazil, including a 13th-minute gamewinner in their 1-0 win over the United States in the group stage and a hat-trick in their 8-2 demolition of Saudi Arabia in the semi-finals. Similarly, Blanco netted four in Mexico's opening match against Saudi Arabia and scored the 97th-minute golden goal in Mexico's 1-0 win over the United States in the semi-finals.
In the Final, Mexico took a 2-0 lead in the first half with goals from midfielder Miguel Zepeda (13') and striker José Manuel Abundis (28'). Brazil pulled one back just before the break when left winger Serginho converted a 43rd-minute penalty kick. Striker Roni then equalized in the 47th minute, but the game did not remain level for long, as Zepeda scored his second in the 51st minute. Blanco added another eleven minutes later, to recapture Mexico's 2-goal lead. It turned out to be the matchwinner, as Brazilian midfielder Zé Roberto completed the scoring with a goal in the 63rd minute.
Blanco and Ronaldinho tied with Saudi Arabia's Marzouq Al-Otaibi for most goals of the tournament at 6 each. And while Blanco helped his team to the title, Ronaldinho earned the Golden Ball as the tournament's best player.
