Here are five great goals from the just-ended Asian Cup
Australia took top honours at the recently-concluded Asian Cup.
A James Troisi goal in extra time was enough for the Socceroos to pip a battling South Korea to the title.
With the tournament producing 85 goals, it's the right time to take a look back at some of the finer goals in the tournament.
Here are five of the best:
1) Tim Cahill (AUS) v China
The Socceroos talisman was virtually anonymous in the first half of the Jan 22 quarter-final.
But when his country needed him most, he answered the call.
With the score locked at 0-0, Cahill pulled off a stunning bicycle-kick from a tight angle.
The beauty flew past Chinese goalkeeper Wang Dalei four minutes after the break.
He cheekily said afterwards that it wasn’t even the best bicycle-kick he had scored in his illustrious career - as Australia marched into the last-four.
2) Sardar Azmoun (IRN) v Qatar
Moments of individual skill proved decisive for Iran.
But it was Azmoun’s winner in the 1-0 triumph over Qatar that emerged as the pick.
The 20-year-old Rubin Kazan striker seemed unlikely to score after receiving the ball on the edge of the box. After all, defender Abdelkarim Hassan was in close attendance throughout.
But stretching out his right boot, he flicked the ball back between his legs, past the flummoxed Hassan and into space in the box.
Then, he drove forward and poked it in for a terrific goal.
3) Ali Mabkhout (UAE) v Bahrain
The Emirates frontman smashed the record books when he found the net after just 14 seconds - to register the fastest goal in Asian Cup history.
Omar Abdulrahman clipped a superb ball over the top of Bahrain’s defence.
And Mabkhout calmly controlled it with his right foot before slotting past goalkeeper Sayed Abbas with his left.
4) Yaser Kasim (IRQ) v Jordan
The young Iraqi evoked memories of glory days past when he jinked past three defenders to score a magical winner in their Group D clash in Brisbane.
Slaloming runs are rare in the modern gam.
But Kasim twisted and turned his way through the Jordanian rearguard before netting the game’s only goal.
The effect was only slightly mitigated by the half-hearted challenges against the Swindon Town midfielder and the fact that his shot deflected off the boot of a fourth defender.
5) Omar Abdulrahman (UAE) v Japan
This classy number 10 lit up the Asian Cup as UAE stormed to third place.
There was seemingly nothing he couldn’t do with the ball.
The curly-haired star proved it in the quarter-final with an audacious chipped “panenka” penalty in UAE’s shock win over Japan.
The 23-year-old floated in the Emirates’ first spot kick of the penalty shootout – and boss Mahdi Ali later told him never to do it again because it almost gave him a heart attack.
Sources: AFP, YouTube
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