Jalal Hosseini among Stars of AFC Champions League
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The thrilling AFC Champions League era has come to a conclusion as, after 22 years of top-class Asian club football, the tournament has been revamped to AFC Champions League Elite in the upcoming season.
From household domestic names to international stars, the competition has been lit up by a number of players who provided memories to cherish for lovers of Asian football.
Spanning East Asia to West Asia, the-AFC.com selects 10 of the biggest superstars the competition has witnessed in its illustrious history and former Persepolis defender Jalal Hosseini is among them.
A stalwart of Iranian football having earned more than 100 international caps and nine Iranian Pro League titles with three different clubs, it was not until 2018 that the center-back finally had his chance to shine on the AFC Champions League stage.
The Persepolis captain managed to score vital second-leg goals in the Round of 16 and the quarter-finals against the UAE’s Al Jazira and Qatar’s Al Duhail respectively, in addition to being a colossus in the backline, but was unfortunately on the losing side against Kwoun’s Kashima.
Two seasons later, Hosseini again led his troops out in the final against Ulsan Hyundai with only Junior Negrao’s second-half penalty being the difference as the iconic Iranian was once more denied at the death but his displays throughout his career made him one of the finest defenders to have graced the AFC Champions League.
