International stars grace the AFC Champions League and light up the matches

Ahead of the start of the 2023-2024 AFC Champions League scheduled for Monday, fans will be treated to an unprecedented level of star power, especially months after the transfer of the world’s best players to Asia in recent months, especially in the Saudi league and the list of participating teams includes many names… the most prominent on the Asian continent. The tournament will light the fuse of the competition, the official website of the Asian Football Confederation said.

Abdul Hameed Sabiri (Al-Fayha)

The midfield star played a key role with the Moroccan national team as they reached the semi-finals of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, where he started two matches as a starter and came on as a substitute in the other three. Scored during a penalty shootout win over Spain in the Round of 16. After a loan move to Saudi club Al-Fayha from Italian club Fiorentina, he made his first appearance for the team against Al-Shabaab on Friday and was influential during the match.

Akram Afif (Al Saad)

Not many players can engage Afif’s presence in the AFC Champions League. Since his debut in 2017, the Qatari winger has scored 11 goals in the competition and assisted a further four goals in 35 appearances for Al Sadd. He was also the best player in Asia. He scored 10 goals during the Qatar national team’s 2019 Asian Cup victory in 2019. He also represented his country in the World Cup finals held on its soil last December.

Miralem Bijanic (Sharjah)

Bijanik is regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and he enjoyed impressive success in European football, where he represented clubs such as Roma, Olympique Lyonnais, Barcelona and Juventus, before moving to Asian football to join an Emirati club in Sharjah in 2022, as a key player and part of the squad. The team he led won three domestic titles in one year, the President’s Cup, the League Cup and the Super Cup.

Karim Benzema (Saudi Al-Ittihad)

Former Real Madrid captain and Ballon d’Or holder Karim Benzema joined Saudi club Al-Ittihad this summer as international talent began to flood into Saudi Arabia. In 14 seasons at the Spanish club, he won the Champions League five times with Real. Madrid’s second top scorer. Overall, the French star also won the Pichichi award for the best goalscorer in the Spanish league for 2022, scoring three goals and assisting two in six matches with Al-Ittihad this season. goals.

Neymar (Saudi Al Hilal)

The 31-year-old striker, who made his debut as a substitute against Al Hilal on Friday, became the all-time top scorer in the history of the Brazil national team with 79 goals, surpassing the legendary Pele’s record of 77 goals. , Neymar is looking forward to becoming the first player in history to win the Copa Libertadores with Santos in 2011 and the Champions League with Barcelona in 2015 after the former Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain star scored a brace against Bolivia last week. To win the most important title at club level on three different continents.

Philippe Coutinho (Al-Duhail, Qatar)

Coutinho was one of the most talented Brazilian players of the last decade and his talents were recognized from an early age when he signed for Italian giants Inter at the age of 16, although he managed to move to Europe. He was 18. However, he arrived at Liverpool, where he made more than 150 appearances in five seasons, before Barcelona made him a more expensive signing, paying $144 million to bring him in in 2018, and despite several injuries, he helped the Catalan. During his time in La Liga, the team won the title twice.

Cristiano Ronaldo (Al-Nasser Saudi Arabia)

Many consider him the greatest European player of all time and the greatest to ever play football. Ronaldo’s impressive records range from winning the Ballon d’Or award five times to being the top international goalscorer with 123 goals in 201 matches. Portugal national team, which is more in history, and he is also the best. The all-time top scorer in the Champions League, Ronaldo joined Al-Nasser in December 2022 to become the first player in history to score in five World Cups. Matches, scores in each edition between 2006 and 2022.