Choi Kang-hee, a 64-year-old veteran coach, is about to face the challenge of the young and promising 45-year-old Cowell when the Yokohama Mariners crash head-on into Shandong Taishan in a thrilling AFC Champions League quarterfinal.
Cowell, an Australian soccer legend of yesteryear, played for Liverpool, Leeds United and other giants, winning the 2004-05 Championship, the 2005-06 UEFA Super Cup, the 2005-06 FA Cup, the 2006-07 Championship, runner-up in the 2011 Asian Cup, and making his mark in the 2006 World Cup in Germany and the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
After retiring from the game, Cowell started as a manager of English lower league teams such as Watford U23, became an assistant coach at Celtic in June 2022, and officially took over the coaching reins at Yokohama Mariners on December 31, 2023, with a 2-2 draw against Bangkok United in the first leg of the AFC Champions League 1/8th round.
Choi Kang-hee, a well-known coach in Asian soccer, helped Jeonbuk Hyundai win the AFC Champions League in 2006 and was honored as the AFC Coach of the Year that same year. He then led Jeonbuk to the K-League title for two consecutive years and was elected AFC Coach of the Year in 2016. In addition to Jeonbuk, Choi Kang-hee has also coached Suwon Samsung, the South Korean national team, Tianjin, Dalian and Shenhua.
On May 16th last year, Cui Kangxi took over the coaching whip of Shandong Taishan. At that time, Taishan was only 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 Choi Kang-hee took over, Taishan won 14, drew 6, and lost 2 in the Chinese Super League, accumulating 48 points and finishing in second place by 5 points. In 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 two rounds of the 1/8 final, successfully advancing to the quarter-finals.
The first round of the AFC Champions League quarterfinals will begin on March 6th, with the second round matches to be played on March 13th.
