2015 AFC Cup final

{{Infobox football match | title = 2015 AFC Cup final | pixel = | image = | event = [[2015 AFC Cup]] | team1 = [[FC Istiklol|Istiklol]] | team1association = {{flagicon|TJK|size=30px}} | team1score = 0 | team2 = [[Johor Darul Ta'zim F.C.|Johor Darul Ta'zim]] | team2association = {{flagicon|MAS|size=30px}} | team2score = 1 | details = | date = 31 October 2015 | stadium = [[Pamir Stadium]] | city = [[Dushanbe]] | man_of_the_match1a ={{flagicon|MAS}} [[Safiq Rahim]] | man_of_the_match1atitle = | man_of_the_match1b = | man_of_the_match1btitle = | fair_player1 = | fair_player1title = | referee = [[Minoru Tōjō]] ([[Japan Football Association|Japan]]) | attendance = 18,000 | weather = | previous = [[2014 AFC Cup final|2014]] | next = [[2016 AFC Cup final|2016]] }}

The '''2015 AFC Cup final''' was the final match of the [[2015 AFC Cup]], the 12th edition of the [[AFC Cup]], a [[association football|football]] competition organized by the [[Asian Football Confederation]] (AFC) for clubs from 'developing countries' in [[Asia]] according to the Vision Asia plan.<ref name="regulations">{{cite web|url=http://www.the-afc.com/uploads/afc/files/acc_2015_competition_regulations_final.pdf|title=AFC Cup 2015 Competition Regulations|publisher=AFC|format=PDF}}</ref>

The final was contested as a single match between Tajikistani team [[FC Istiklol|Istiklol]] and the Malaysian team [[Johor Darul Ta'zim F.C.|Johor Darul Ta'zim]]. The match was hosted by Istiklol at the [[Pamir Stadium]] in [[Dushanbe]] on 31 October 2015.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.the-afc.com/media-releases/fifa-suspension-of-kuwait-fa-afc-cup-implications|title=FIFA Suspension of Kuwait FA: AFC Cup Implications|publisher=AFC}}</ref> [[Leandro Velázquez]] scored the only goal in a match for Johor Darul Ta'zim, who won the match 1–0 and clinched their first title.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.the-afc.com/afc-cup-2015/johor-darul-tazim-crowned-afc-cup-champions|title=Johor Darul Ta'zim Crowned AFC Cup Champions|publisher=AFC}}</ref>

==Venue== [[File:Fc-Istiklol..jpg|250px|thumb|Pamir Stadium]]

The [[Pamir Stadium]] is a multi-use stadium in [[Dushanbe]], [[Tajikistan]]. It is the home stadium of [[FC Istiklol|Istiklol]] and holds 24,000 spectators.

==Background== Istiklol qualified for the 2015 AFC Cup group stage as the [[2014 Tajik League]] and [[2014 Tajik Cup]] winners. This was their first appearance in the AFC Cup.

Johor Darul Ta'zim qualified for the [[2015 AFC Champions League qualifying play-off]] as the [[2014 Malaysia Super League]] champions, but failed to advance to the AFC Champions League group stage, and entered the AFC Cup group stage. This was their second appearance in the AFC Cup.

Both teams reached the AFC Cup final for the first time, and Johor Darul Ta'zim was the first team from East Asia Zone to reach the final.

==Road to final== {{details|2015 AFC Cup}}

''Note: In all results below, the score of the finalist is given first (H: home; A: away).''

{|class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;" |- !colspan=4|{{flagicon|TJK}} [[FC Istiklol|Istiklol]] !Round !colspan=4|{{flagicon|MAS}} [[Johor Darul Ta'zim F.C.|Johor Darul Ta'zim]] |-bgcolor=#c1e0ff |colspan=4|'''[[2015 AFC Cup qualifying play-off|AFC Cup]]''' |rowspan=2|Qualifying play-off |colspan=4|'''[[2015 AFC Champions League qualifying play-off|AFC Champions League]]''' |-bgcolor=#c1e0ff |Opponent |colspan=3|Result |Opponent |colspan=3|Result |- |rowspan=2 colspan=4|Bye |bgcolor=#c1e0ff|Round 1 |align=left|{{flagicon|IND}} [[Bengaluru FC]] |colspan=3|[[2015 AFC Champions League qualifying play-off#Johor Darul Ta'zim v Bengaluru FC|2–1]] {{aet}} (H) |- |bgcolor=#c1e0ff|Round 2 |align=left|{{flagicon|THA}} [[Bangkok Glass F.C.|Bangkok Glass]] |colspan=3|[[2015 AFC Champions League qualifying play-off#Bangkok Glass v Johor Darul Ta'zim|0–3]] (A) |-bgcolor=#c1e0ff |colspan=9|'''AFC Cup''' |-bgcolor=#c1e0ff |Opponent |colspan=3|Result |[[2015 AFC Cup group stage|Group stage]] |Opponent |colspan=3|Result |- |align=left|{{flagicon|IRQ}} [[Erbil SC|Erbil]] |colspan=3|[[2015 AFC Cup group stage#Istiklol v Erbil|1–3]] (H) |bgcolor=#c1e0ff|Matchday 1 |align=left|{{flagicon|IND}} [[East Bengal F.C.|East Bengal]] |colspan=3|[[2015 AFC Cup group stage#Johor Darul Ta'zim v East Bengal|4–1]] (H) |- |align=left|{{flagicon|TKM}} [[FC Ahal|Ahal]] |colspan=3|[[2015 AFC Cup group stage#Ahal v Istiklol|2–1]] (A) |bgcolor=#c1e0ff|Matchday 2 |align=left|{{flagicon|SIN}} [[Balestier Khalsa FC|Balestier Khalsa]] |colspan=3|[[2015 AFC Cup group stage#Balestier Khalsa v Johor Darul Ta'zim|1–0]] (A) |- |align=left|{{flagicon|KUW}} [[Qadsia SC|Al-Qadsia]] |colspan=3|[[2015 AFC Cup group stage#Al-Qadsia v Istiklol|2–2]] (A) |bgcolor=#c1e0ff|Matchday 3 |align=left|{{flagicon|HKG}} [[Kitchee SC|Kitchee]] |colspan=3|[[2015 AFC Cup group stage#Kitchee v Johor Darul Ta'zim|0–2]] (A) |- |align=left|{{flagicon|KUW}} [[Qadsia SC|Al-Qadsia]] |colspan=3|[[2015 AFC Cup group stage#Istiklol v Al-Qadsia|2–0]] (H) |bgcolor=#c1e0ff|Matchday 4 |align=left|{{flagicon|HKG}} [[Kitchee SC|Kitchee]] |colspan=3|[[2015 AFC Cup group stage#Johor Darul Ta'zim v Kitchee|2–0]] (H) |- |align=left|{{flagicon|IRQ}} [[Erbil SC|Erbil]] |colspan=3|[[2015 AFC Cup group stage#Erbil v Istiklol|0–0]] (A) |bgcolor=#c1e0ff|Matchday 5 |align=left|{{flagicon|IND}} [[East Bengal F.C.|East Bengal]] |colspan=3|[[2015 AFC Cup group stage#East Bengal v Johor Darul Ta'zim|1–0]] (A) |- |align=left|{{flagicon|TKM}} [[FC Ahal|Ahal]] |colspan=3|[[2015 AFC Cup group stage#Istiklol v Ahal|5–2]] (H) |bgcolor=#c1e0ff|Matchday 6 |align=left|{{flagicon|SIN}} [[Balestier Khalsa FC|Balestier Khalsa]] |colspan=3|[[2015 AFC Cup group stage#Johor Darul Ta'zim v Balestier Khalsa|3–0]] (H) |- |colspan=4 align=center valign=top|'''[[2015 AFC Cup group stage#Group C|Group C]] winner''' {{:2015 AFC Cup group stage|transcludesection=Group C|teamwidth=160|only_pld_pts=yes|show_matches=no|showteam=IST}} |bgcolor=#c1e0ff|Final standings |colspan=4 align=center valign=top|'''[[2015 AFC Cup group stage#Group F|Group F]] winner''' {{:2015 AFC Cup group stage|transcludesection=Group F|teamwidth=160|only_pld_pts=yes|show_matches=no|showteam=JDT}} |-bgcolor=#c1e0ff |Opponent |Agg. |1st leg |2nd leg |[[2015 AFC Cup knockout stage|Knockout stage]] |Opponent |Agg. |1st leg |2nd leg |- |align=left|{{flagicon|SYR|1980}} [[Al-Wahda SC Damascus|Al-Wahda]] |colspan=3|[[2015 AFC Cup knockout stage#Istiklol v Al-Wahda|1–1]] {{aet}} (4–2 [[Penalty shoot-out (association football)|p]]) (H) (single match) |bgcolor=#c1e0ff|Round of 16 |align=left|{{flagicon|MYA}} [[Ayeyawady United F.C.|Ayeyawady United]] |colspan=3|[[2015 AFC Cup knockout stage#Johor Darul Ta'zim v Ayeyawady United|5–0]] (H) (single match) |- |align=left|{{flagicon|MAS}} [[Pahang FA|Pahang]] |5–3 |[[2015 AFC Cup knockout stage#Istiklol v Pahang|4–0]] (H) |[[2015 AFC Cup knockout stage#Pahang v Istiklol|1–3]] (A) |bgcolor=#c1e0ff|Quarter-finals |align=left|{{flagicon|HKG}} [[South China AA|South China]] |4–2 |[[2015 AFC Cup knockout stage#Johor Darul Ta'zim v South China|1–1]] (H) |[[2015 AFC Cup knockout stage#South China v Johor Darul Ta'zim|3–1]] (A) |- |align=left|{{flagicon|KWT}} [[Kuwait SC|Al-Kuwait]] |{{Tooltip|w/o|Walkover}} |[[2015 AFC Cup knockout stage#Al-Kuwait v Istiklol|0–4]] (A) |[[2015 AFC Cup knockout stage#Istiklol v Al-Kuwait|Cancelled]] (H) |bgcolor=#c1e0ff|Semi-finals |align=left|{{flagicon|KWT}} [[Qadsia SC|Al-Qadsia]] |{{Tooltip|w/o|Walkover}} |[[2015 AFC Cup knockout stage#Al-Qadsia v Johor Darul Ta'zim|1–3]] (A) |[[2015 AFC Cup knockout stage#Johor Darul Ta'zim v Al-Qadsia|Cancelled]] (H) |}

==Rules== The final was played as a single match, with the host team decided by draw. If tied after regulation, [[extra time (association football)|extra time]] and, if necessary, [[penalty shoot-out (association football)|penalty shoot-out]] would be used to decide the winner.<ref name="regulations"/>

==Match== {{Football box |date=31 October 2015 |time=17:00 [[UTC+05:00|UTC+5]] |team1=[[FC Istiklol|Istiklol]] {{flagicon|TJK}} |score=0–1 |report=[http://www.the-afc.com/afcasfeeds?fixtureid=9706&stageid=375&tMode=H&view=ajax&show=matchsummary Report] |team2={{flagicon|MAS}} [[Johor Darul Ta'zim F.C.|Johor Darul Ta'zim]] |goals1= |goals2=[[Leandro Velázquez|Velázquez]] {{goal|23}} |stadium=[[Pamir Stadium]], [[Dushanbe]] |attendance=18,000 |referee=[[Minoru Tōjō]] ([[Japan Football Association|Japan]]) |penalties1= |penaltyscore= |penalties2= }}

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{| width="100%" |valign="top" width="50%"| {| style="font-size:90%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align=center |- !width=25| !!width=25| |- | GK || '''1''' || {{flagicon|SER}} [[Nikola Stošić (footballer, born 1994)|Nikola Stošić]] |- | DF || '''2''' || {{flagicon|TJK}} [[Siyovush Asrori]] || {{yel|77}} |- | DF || '''11''' || {{flagicon|TJK}} [[Jakhongir Jalilov]] |- | DF || '''15''' || {{flagicon|UKR}} [[Petro Kovalchuk]] |- | DF || '''22''' || {{flagicon|IRN}} [[Mahdi Chahjouei]] |- | MF || '''8''' || {{flagicon|TJK}} [[Nuriddin Davronov]] |- | MF || '''9''' || {{flagicon|TJK}} [[Khurshed Makhmudov]] || || {{suboff|73}} |- | MF || '''18''' || {{flagicon|TJK}} [[Fatkhullo Fatkhuloev]] |- | MF || '''63''' || {{flagicon|TJK}} [[Manuchekhr Dzhalilov]] |- | FW || '''10''' || {{flagicon|ESP}} [[Manuel Bleda Rodríguez|Manuel Rodríguez]] || || {{suboff|86}} |- | FW || '''17''' || {{flagicon|TJK}} [[Dilshod Vasiev]] [[Kapten|(c)]] |- |colspan=3|'''Substitute''' |- | GK || '''16''' || {{flagicon|TJK}} [[Alisher Tuychiev]] |- | GK || '''35''' || {{flagicon|TJK}} [[Kurban Boboev]] |- | DF || '''19''' || {{flagicon|TJK}} [[Akhtam Nazarov]] || || {{subon|86}} |- | MF || '''7''' || {{flagicon|TJK}} [[Umedzhon Sharipov]] |- | MF || '''21''' || {{flagicon|TJK}} [[Romish Jalilov]] |- | MF || '''39''' || {{flagicon|TJK}} [[Parvizdzhon Umarbayev]] || || {{subon|73}} |- |colspan=3|'''Coach''' |- |colspan=4| {{flagicon|TJK}} [[Mubin Ergashev]] |} | {| style="font-size:90%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align=center |- !width=25| !!width=25| |- | GK || '''1''' || {{flagicon|MAS}} [[Mohd Farizal Marlias|Farizal Marlias]] || {{yel|54}} |- | DF || '''6''' || {{flagicon|BRA}} [[Marcos António Elias Santos|Marcos António]] |- | DF || '''7''' || {{flagicon|MAS}} [[Aidil Zafuan Abdul Radzak|Aidil Zafuan]] |- | DF || '''12''' || {{flagicon|MAS}} [[Kunanlan Subramaniam|S. Kunanlan]] |- | DF || '''42''' || {{flagicon|MAS}} [[Muhammad Fazly Mazlan|Fazly Mazlan]] |- | MF || '''8''' || {{flagicon|MAS}} [[Safiq Rahim]] [[Kapten|(c)]] |- | MF || '''14''' || {{flagicon|SIN}} [[Hariss Harun]] |- | MF || '''21''' || {{flagicon|MAS}} [[Jasazrin Jamaluddin]] |- | FW || '''9''' || {{flagicon|ARG}} [[Leandro Velázquez]] || {{yel|51}} || {{suboff|86}} |- | FW || '''10''' || {{flagicon|MAS}} [[Safee Sali]]|| {{yel|53}} || {{suboff|60}} |- | FW || '''19''' || {{flagicon|ARG}} [[Luciano Figueroa]] |- |colspan=3|'''Substitute''' |- | GK || '''24''' || {{flagicon|MAS}} [[Mohd Izham Tarmizi|Izham Tarmizi]] |- | DF || '''18''' || {{flagicon|MAS}} [[Mahali Jasuli]] || || {{subon|60}} |- | DF || '''26''' || {{flagicon|MAS}} [[Mohd Amer Saidin|Amer Saidin]] |- | MF || '''13''' || {{flagicon|MAS}} [[Gary Steven Robbat]]|| {{yel|90+5}} || {{subon|86}} |- | MF || '''16''' || {{flagicon|MAS}} [[Mohd Shakir Shaari|Shakir Shaari]] |- | MF || '''23''' || {{flagicon|MAS}} [[S. Chanturu]] |- | FW || '''17''' || {{flagicon|MAS}} [[Mohd Amri Yahyah|Amri Yahyah]] |- |colspan=3|'''Coach''' |- |colspan=4|{{flagicon|ARG}} [[Roberto Carlos Mario Gomez|Mario Gomez]] |} |}

{| width=100% style="font-size: 90%" | '''AFC Man of the Match:''' {{flagicon|MAS}} [[Safiq Rahim]] (Johor Darul Ta'zim)

'''[[Assistant referee (association football)|Assistant referees]]:''' Toshiyuki Nagi ([[Japan Football Association|Japan]]) Ochi Shinji ([[Japan Football Association|Japan]]) '''[[Assistant referee (association football)#Fourth official|Fourth official]]:''' [[Jumpei Iida]] ([[Japan Football Association|Japan]]) |}

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== *[http://www.the-afc.com/competition/afc-cup AFC Cup], the-AFC.com

{{DEFAULTSORT:Afc Cup Final 2015}} [[Category:2015 AFC Cup|*Final]] [[Category:AFC Champions League Two finals]] [[Category:FC Istiklol matches]] [[Category:Johor Darul Ta'zim F.C. matches]] [[Category:Football matches in Tajikistan]] [[Category:October 2015 sports events in Asia]] [[Category:Sport in Dushanbe]] [[Category:2015 in Tajikistani football]] [[Category:2015 in Malaysian football]]