Sixty-four-year-old Choi Kang-hee will also be challenged by 45-year-old Cowell as the Yokohama Mariners face Shandong Taishan in the quarter-finals of the AFC Champions League.
Cowell was known as an Australian soccer legend during his playing days, having played for Liverpool and Leeds United, winning the 2004-05 Championship, the 2005-06 European Super Cup, the 2005-06 English FA Cup, the 2006-07 Championship, the 2011 Asian Cup runners-up, the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany and the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.
After retiring from the game in 2014, Cowell has been the head coach of Watford U23 and other lower league teams in England, assistant coach of Celtic in June 2022, and officially head coach of the Yokohama Mariners on December 31, 2023, where he drew 2-2 with Bangkok United in the first leg of the AFC Champions League 1/8th round.
Choi Kang-hee is a famous Asian coach. During his tenure as coach of Jeonbuk Hyundai, he helped Jeonbuk win the 2006 AFC Champions League title and was named AFC Coach of the Year that same year. He then led Jeonbuk to the 2009 and 2011 K-League titles. He was also voted AFC Coach of the Year in 2016. Apart from Jeonbuk, Choi Kang-hee has also coached Suwon Samsung, the Korean national team, Tianjin, Dalian and Shenhua.
On May 16th last year, Cui Kangxi officially became the coach of Shandong Taishan. At that time, Taishan was only ranked 9th in the Chinese Super League, with only 1 win, 4 draws, 2 losses and 7 points in the first 7 rounds.
After Choi Kang-hee took over, Taishan achieved a proud record of 14 wins, 6 draws, and 2 losses in the Chinese Super League, earning 48 points and finishing 5 points behind Shanghai Harbor in second place. During the AFC Cup, Taishan eliminated Meizhou Hakka, Beijing Guoan, and Dalian Ren, and beat Shanghai Shenhua 0-1 in the final. In the AFC Champions League, Taishan won 4 and lost 2 in the group stage, and beat Kawasaki Frontale 6-5 in the 2nd round of the 1/8 final to advance to the quarterfinals.
In the AFC Champions League quarterfinals, Shandong Taishan will hold the first round on March 6th and the second round on March 13th.
