5. Resurgent Shabab Al-Ahli flying flag for UAE

It hasn’t been a great tournament so far for clubs from the UAE. Al-Jazira and Sharjah are already out of the running.

That seemed to be the situation with Shabab Al-Ahli as well. The Dubai club drew their first three games and came from behind in each to do so with two of those equalizers coming in injury time.

ترتيب هدافي الدوري الانجليزي

After finding their feet, however, they have really moved up a gear, and the 8-2 thrashing of Al-Gharafa — the Qataris were top of the group at the time of the meeting — will live long in the memory. It was followed by a more functional victory over Ahal, which now means that a point in the final game against Foolad will almost certainly translate to a place in the second round where they would be the only team flying the flag for the UAE

Saudi Arabia has some of the most exciting foreign imports of any league in Asia, with prolific goalscorers, silky playmakers and solid defenders spread across the competition.

That has not always been the case when it comes to goalkeepers, partly because of a 25-year-ban on outside custodians that was only revoked ahead of the 2017-18 season. Many teams have been making up for lost time however and it could well be the case that no less than 15 out of 16 teams will start the new season with an outsider between the sticks. This summer alone, 11 have signed new foreign keepers.

That has repercussions for the national team as we will see later but it also means that Saudi Arabia is a little unusual in Asia. Some leagues in the continent don’t allow them at all, such as South Korea. Japan does but clubs there tend to limit their imports to a handful of Koreans and an occasional Australian. Saudi Arabia is, however, one of the few places where there are showstoppers from more far-flung locations.

دعم سناب

Al-Nassr recently signed one of the best-known goalkeepers likely to play in Asia and certainly one who has the highest international profile at the moment. David Ospina was Napoli’s number one last season before his contract ended and the Colombian, who has made over 100 appearances for the South American country, has also spent time in the English Premier League with Arsenal. His arrival this summer was a real coup for the Riyadh giants.

There is another goalkeeper with significant international experience in the capital. Kim Seung-gyu has played at world and Asian cups with South Korea and is the country’s number one heading into the tournament in Qatar. The 31-year-old has extensive experience playing for big clubs in his homeland — having won the AFC Champions League with Ulsan Horangi back in 2021 — as well as Japan. A good shotstopper who comes out of his area well, there is already plenty of interest back in East Asia as to how Kim performs in Saudi Arabia. If there are no communication issues with his teammates then there is no reason why Kim can’t become a major success at Al-Shabab and help the club challenge once again.