Champions League final: with no Asian players in Real, Dortmund line-ups, continent’s wait for second winner goes on
- Only two players from Asia have ever featured in a final, though a few more have been in match-day squads
- Sir Alex Ferguson said he ‘regrets to this day’ not playing in Park in victorious 2008 final
There were two Asian players in this season’s Uefa Champions League semi-finals – but both were on the losing side.
South Korea defender Kim Min-jae saw his Bayern Munich side eliminated by Real Madrid in the dying seconds of the second leg, while international teammate Lee Kang-in was part of the Paris Saint-Germain team knocked out by surprise package Borussia Dortmund.
It means that, once again, there will be no Asian representation in club football’s biggest match.
Since the tournament’s inception in 1955, only one player from the continent has a winner’s medal.
Let’s take a look at which Asian players have reached the Champions League final.
Ali Daei, Bayern Munich
v Manchester United, 1999: lost 2-1
Described by Gary Neville as the “scariest player” he ever came against when they met in the group phase that season because of his impressive 6-foot 4-inch (1.95-metre) height, the former Iran forward was an unused sub in the Barcelona final.
Bayern had been in control since taking the lead on six minutes but, in one of the most dramatic finales in football history, conceded twice in stoppage time to lose.
Had they been chasing a goal earlier in the match, perhaps Daei would have been called up from the bench at some point.
Park Ji-sung, Manchester United
v Barcelona, 2009: lost 2-0
v Barcelona, 2011: lost 3-1
Sir Alex Ferguson said not selecting Park, instrumental in the semi-final success over Barcelona, for the 2008 final win over Chelsea, was a “decision I regret to this day”.
Nevertheless, the former South Korea captain has a winner’s medal for his exploits throughout that 2008 campaign – the one and only Champions League winner from Asia.
He did start the finals against the Catalans, which United lost, with his role being to nullify Lionel Messi. Well, good luck with that.
Takashi Usami, Bayern Munich
v Chelsea, 2021: 1-1, lost 4-3 pens
An unused sub on a night the Bavarians were heavily fancied to beat Roberto Di Matteo’s Blues on their home turf.
Astonishingly, despite taking an 83rd-minute lead, they were pegged back and even missed a penalty in extra-time before losing on spot kicks.
Usami made five appearances during his loan spell with Bayern from Gamba Osaka and returned to the Bundesliga at Hoffenheim in the following campaign.
Son Heung-min, Tottenham
v Liverpool, 2019: lost 2-0
Scored key goals in the quarter-final win over Manchester City and stepped up because of the absence of Harry Kane towards the end of the campaign.
A dull match in Madrid was effectively decided inside the first two minutes as Mohamed Salah gave the Reds the lead from the spot and Jurgen Klopp’s side did enough to nullify Spurs.
Son started and finished the match but was unable to affect the outcome.
Takumi Minamino, Liverpool
v Real Madrid, 2022: lost 1-0
Impressed alongside Erling Haaland during FC Salzburg’s impressive showing at Anfield in the 2019-20 campaign, when they hit three in a narrow defeat to the reigning European champions.
As Haaland went to Dortmund, Minamino joined a Liverpool side that was storming to their first English top-flight title in 30 years.
A season later, he stayed on the bench for the entire 90 minutes in Paris as Liverpool were thwarted by Los Blancos, despite having 23 shots to their opponents’ three.
