2008 AFC Cup

The 2008 AFC Cup was the fifth edition of the AFC Cup, played amongst clubs from nations of the AFC, who are considered to be 'developing countries' as per the 'Vision Asia' members paper of AFC President Mohamed Bin Hammam.

Al-Muharraq defeated Safa 10–5 on aggregate in the final, with Brazilian striker Rico scoring six of the clubs ten goals over the two legs. This marked the first time a club from Bahrain won an AFC Club competition. Both finalists initially qualified for the qualifying play-off round in the 2009 AFC Champions League, but were later demoted to the 2009 AFC Cup as neither clubs leagues met the AFC's Champions League criteria.

Shabab Al-Ordon were the defending champions, but were eliminated in the group stage of the competition.

Qualified teams The league champions and cup winners from the thirteen 'developing' (as determined by the AFC) were eligible to participate in the competition. As Indonesian clubs withdrew from the 2008 AFC Champions League, the following changes were made:

The second ranked teams from Thailand (Krung Thai Bank) and Vietnam (Nam Định) were reassigned from the AFC Cup to the AFC Champions League. Turkmenistan were excluded from the competition, as its clubs would now participate in the AFC President's Cup. Clubs from India would participate in the West Asian zone.

West AsiaEast AsiaTeamQualifying methodApp TeamQualifying methodApp Al-Muharraq2006–07 Bahraini Premier League champions3rd South China2006–07 Hong Kong First Division League champions1st Al-Najma2007 Bahraini King's Cup winners1st Kitchee2006–07 Hong Kong First Division League runners-up1st Dempo2006–07 Indian National Football League champions3rd New Radiant2007 Dhivehi League champions4th East Bengal2007 Indian Federation Cup winners2nd Victory SC2007 Maldives FA Cup winners2nd Al-Wahdat2006–07 Jordan League champions2nd Kedah 2006–07 Malaysia Super League champions1st Shabab Al-OrdonTH2006–07 Jordan FA Cup winners2nd Perak 2006–07 Malaysia Super League runners-up3rd Al-Ansar 2006–07 Lebanese Premier League champions1st Singapore Armed Forces2007 S.League champions 2nd Safa 2006–07 Lebanese Premier League runners-up1st Home United2007 S.League runners-up4th Al-Nahda 2006–07 Omani League champions1st Sur2007 Sultan Qaboos Cup winners1st Ahli Sanaa Club2007 Yemeni League champions1st Al-Sha'ab Hadramaut2006 Yemeni President Cup winners1st

Notes

Schedule StageRoundDraw dateFirst legSecond legGroup stageMatchday 117 October 200711 March 2008Matchday 218 March 2008Matchday 33 April 2008Matchday 416 April 2008Matchday 530 April 2008Matchday 614–21 May 2008Knockout stageQuarter-finals24 May 200816 September 200823 September 2008Semi-finals7 October 200821 October 2008Final31 October 20087 November 2008

Group stage

Group A

Group B

Group C

Group D

Group E

Ranking of second-placed teams

Knockout stage

Bracket

Quarter-finals The first legs were played on 16 September, and the second legs were played on 23 September 2008.

Matches

Safa won 7–0 on aggregate.

Al-Nahda won 4–2 on aggregate.

Dempo won 5–4 on aggregate.

Al-Muharraq won 7–1 on aggregate.

Semi-finals The first legs were played on 7 October, and the second legs were played on 21 October 2008.

Matches

2–2 on aggregate. Al-Muharraq won on away goals.

Safa won 5–1 on aggregate.

Final The first and second legs of the final were played on 31 October and 7 November 2008, respectively.

Matches Al-Muharraq won 10–5 on aggregate.

Statistics Top goalscorers

RankScorerTeamGoals 1 Rico Al-Muharraq 19 2 Aleksander Duric Singapore Armed Forces 9 3 Ranty Martins Soleye Dempo 8 4 Mahmood Abdulrahman Al-Muharraq 7 Peres de Oliveira Home United 5 Libambami Yedibahoma Al-Nahda 6 Rony Azar Safa Mohammad Kassas Safa Rashed Jamal Salem Al-Najma 6 Shahril Ishak Home United 5 Indra Sahdan Daud Home United Hassan Abdel Fattah Al-Wahdat Hussein Tahan Safa

2008 AFC Cup

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