A battle of age and experience is about to unfold as 64-year-old coach Choi Kang-hee will face the passionate challenge of 45-year-old Cowell. The Yokohama Mariners will then go head-to-head with Shandong Taishan in the quarterfinals of the AFC Champions League.
Cowell, a man who has been hailed as a legend of Australian soccer during his playing career, has played for Liverpool, Leeds United and other notable teams. He has won 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, as well as representing Australia at the World Cups in Germany in 2006 and South Africa in 2010.
Cowell did not stop after his retirement, as he became manager of English lower league side Watford U23 and assistant manager of Celtic in June 2022.He officially took over the coaching reins of Yokohama Mariners on December 31, 2023 and played Bangkok United in a 2-2 draw in the first leg of the AFC Champions League 1/8 first round.
Choi Kang-hee, the acclaimed Asian coach, led Jeonbuk Hyundai to the 2006 AFC Champions League title and was honored as the AFC Coach of the Year that same year. Since then, he has also led Jeonbuk to win the 2009 and 2011 K-League titles and was named AFC Coach of the Year in 2016. Choi Kang-hee has had a rich and colorful coaching career, having coached Suwon Samsung, the South Korean national team, Tianjin, Dalian, Shenhua and many others.
On May 16th last year, Cui Kangxi officially became the coach of Shandong Taishan. At that time, Taishan was ranked 9th in the Chinese Super League, with only 1 win, 4 draws and 2 losses in the first 7 rounds of matches, accumulating 7 points.
After Cui Kangxi took over, Shandong Taishan achieved an outstanding record of 14 wins, 6 draws, and 2 losses in the Chinese Super League, accumulating 48 points and eventually finishing second in the league by 5 points. In the F.A.C.A. Cup, Taishan went all the way through the competition, eliminating strong opponents such as Meizhou Hakka, Beijing Guoan, and Dalian Ren, and finally defeated 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 two rounds of the 1/8th final to reach the quarter-finals.
The first round of the AFC Champions League quarterfinals will be played on March 6th, while the second round will be played on March 13th.
