The 2012 AFC Cup was the ninth edition of the AFC Cup, a football competition organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) for clubs from "developing countries" in Asia.
Al-Kuwait from Kuwait won their second AFC Cup title in four years, defeating Erbil from Iraq 4–0 in the final.
Allocation of entries per association The following allocation of berths for the 2012 AFC Cup was approved by the AFC in November 2011. The four associations (Yemen, Malaysia, Maldives and Myanmar) with the lowest points according to the AFC evaluation system had one team entering the group stage and another entering the play-off.
+West AsiaPosMemberAssociationPointsSpotsGroup stagePlay-off—2012 AFC Champions League qualifying play-off final round losers—201 Kuwait35.32302 Jordan33.47203 Syria30.28204 Iraq28.98205 Bahrain28.13007 Oman20.682011 Lebanon15.092012 India11.752013 Yemen11.021115 Maldives9.1311Total192
+East AsiaPosMemberAssociationPointsSpotsGroup stagePlay-off—2012 AFC Champions League qualifying play-off final round loser—206 Vietnam24.16208 Indonesia17.58109 Singapore16.512010 Hong Kong15.682014 Malaysia10.791116 Myanmar5.4711Total112
Notes Different from previous seasons where losers of the AFC Champions League qualifying play-off semi-final round also entered the AFC Cup, from 2012 only losers of the AFC Champions League qualifying play-off final round entered the AFC Cup. Kuwait have three teams entering as Al-Kuwait, the 2011 AFC Cup runners-up failed to fulfil the criteria set by AFC to compete in the 2012 AFC Champions League, and thus directly entered the 2012 AFC Cup. Bahrain, while eligible to enter the AFC Cup, chose not to participate in 2012. Indonesia only have one team entering as their league champion entered the 2012 AFC Champions League qualifying play-off. Malaysia returned to the competition, after not participating in 2011. Myanmar applied for upgrade from the AFC President's Cup to the AFC Cup, and was approved by the AFC in November 2011, and made their debut in the competition. After the withdrawal of Liaoning Whowin and disqualification of Persipura Jayapura from the 2012 AFC Champions League qualifying play-off East Asia Zone, only three teams were left, meaning only one final round loser would enter the AFC Cup in the East Asia Zone instead of two. As a result, no qualifying play-off was necessary for the East Asia Zone and both the second representatives from Malaysia (Terengganu) and Myanmar (Ayeyawady United), which were originally slated to enter the AFC Cup qualifying play-off, automatically advanced to the group stage. Persipura Jayapura were later provisionally reinstated to the 2012 AFC Champions League, but the AFC decided that the loser of the qualifying play-off match between Adelaide United and Persipura Jayapura would not advance to the 2012 AFC Cup group stage.
Qualified teams A total of 33 teams participated in the 2012 AFC Cup, including 3 teams which joined as 2012 AFC Champions League qualifying play-off final round losers: 31 teams (19 in West Asia Zone, 12 in East Asia Zone) directly entered the group stage. 2 teams (both in West Asia Zone) competed in the qualifying play-off. The winners qualified for the group stage.
Group stage direct entrants: West Asia Zone (Groups A–E)TeamQualifying methodAppLast App Neftchi Farg'ona2012 AFC Champions League qualifying play-off final round losers2nd2009 Al-Ettifaq2012 AFC Champions League qualifying play-off final round losers1stnone Salgaocar2010–11 I-League champions 2011 Indian Federation Cup winners1stnone East Bengal2010–11 I-League runners-up6th2011 Al-Zawra'a2010–11 Iraqi Elite League champions2nd2009 Erbil2010–11 Iraqi Elite League runners-up3rd2011 Al-Wehdat2010–11 Jordan League champions 2010–11 Jordan FA Cup winners7th2011 Al-Faisaly2010–11 Jordan League runners-up6th2011 Al-Qadsia2010–11 Kuwaiti Premier League champions3rd2011 Kazma2011 Kuwait Emir Cup winners2nd2010 Al-Kuwait2011 AFC Cup runners-up4th2011 Al-Ahed2010–11 Lebanese Premier League champions 2010–11 Lebanese FA Cup winners6th2011 Safa2010–11 Lebanese Premier League runners-up3rd2009 VB2011 Dhivehi League champions 2011 Maldives FA Cup winners5th2011 Al-Suwaiq2010–11 Oman Mobile League champions3rd2011 Al-Orouba†2010–11 Oman Mobile League runners-up3rd2011 Al-Shorta2010–11 Syrian Premier League AFC Cup play-off winners1stnone Al-Ittihad2010–11 Syrian Cup winners3rd2011 Al-Oruba2010–11 Yemeni League champions1stnoneQualifying play-off participants: West Asia Zone Victory2011 Dhivehi League runners-up5th2011 Al-Tilal2010–11 Yemeni League runners-up3rd2011
Group stage direct entrants: East Asia Zone (Groups F–H)TeamQualifying methodAppLast App Chonburi2012 AFC Champions League qualifying play-off final round loser3rd2011 Kitchee2010–11 Hong Kong First Division League champions2nd2008 Citizen2010–11 Hong Kong Senior Challenge Shield winners1stnone Arema2010–11 Indonesia Super League runners-up1stnone Kelantan2011 Malaysia Super League champions1stnone Terengganu2011 Malaysia FA Cup winners1stnone Yangon United2011 Myanmar National League champions 2011 MFF Cup winners1stnone Ayeyawady United2011 Myanmar National League runners-up1stnone Tampines Rovers2011 S.League champions5th2011 Home United2011 Singapore Cup winners6th2009 Sông Lam Nghệ An2011 V-League champions2nd2011 Navibank Sài Gòn2011 Vietnamese Cup winners1stnone
Notes † Al-Orouba were the second representative from Oman, instead of Dhofar, the 2011 Sultan Qaboos Cup winners.
Schedule Schedule of dates for 2012 competition.
PhaseRoundDraw dateFirst legSecond legQualifying play-offsFinals6 December 201118 February 2012Group stageMatchday 16–7 March 2012Matchday 220–21 March 2012Matchday 33–4 April 2012Matchday 410–11 April 2012Matchday 524–25 April 2012Matchday 68–9 May 2012Knockout phaseRound of 1622–23 May 2012Quarter-finals14 June 201218 September 201225 September 2012Semi-finals2 October 201223 October 2012Final3 November 2012
Qualifying play-off
The draw for the qualifying play-off was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 6 December 2011. The winner advanced to the group stage.
!colspan="3"|West Asia Zone
Notes Note 1: Due to the political crisis in Yemen, the AFC decided to switch the venue from Aden, Yemen to Malé, Maldives.
Group stage
The draw for the group stage was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 6 December 2011. Clubs from the same country may not be drawn into the same group. The winners and runners-up of each group advanced to the knockout stage.
Group A
Group B
Group C
Group D
Group E
Group F
Group G
Group H
Knockout stage
Round of 16 The matchups for the round of 16 were decided based on the results from the group stage. Each tie was played as one match, hosted by the winners of each group (Team 1) against the runners-up of another group (Team 2).
Quarter-finals The draw for the quarter-finals, semi-finals, and final was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 14 June 2012. It determined the matchups for the quarter-finals and semi-finals as well as the potential host for the final.
Semi-finals
Final
The final of the 2012 AFC Cup was hosted by one of the finalists, decided by a draw. According to the draw on 14 June 2012, the winner of semi-final 2 would host the final. Therefore, Erbil was the home team.
2012 AFC Cup Al-Kuwait2nd Title
Top scorers Rank Player Club Total1 Amjad Radhi Erbil 11 111 22 9 Raja Rafe Al-Shorta221 121 93 Mohammed Ghaddar Kelantan 1321 1 8 Sebastián Tagliabué Al-Ettifaq3 3 2 8 Edison Fonseca Navibank Sài Gòn 33 11 86 Rogerinho Al-Kuwait1 1 11 1 1177 Mahmoud Shelbaieh Al-Wehdat11112 6 Abdulhadi Khamis Al-Kuwait 12 1 1169 Ahmed Hayel Al-Faisaly 1121 5 Yousef Nasser Kazma 1111 1 5 Pipob On-Mo Chonburi 1 11 11 5 Note: Goals scored in qualifying play-off not counted.
Source:
See also 2012 AFC Champions League 2012 AFC President's Cup
References
External links