2012 AFC Challenge Cup

The 2012 AFC Challenge Cup was the fourth edition of the tournament, an international football competition for Asian Football Confederation (AFC) member nations that are mainly categorized as "emerging countries" in the defunct Vision Asia programme. It took place in Nepal from 8–19 March 2012.[1] Unlike in previous editions of the tournament, there were no automatic qualifiers. Therefore, 2010 champions North Korea, runners-up Turkmenistan, and third-placed Tajikistan had to navigate the qualification phase in order to return to the finals.[2] North Korea successfully defended their title and qualified for the 2015 AFC Asian Cup.[3]

2012 AFC Challenge Cup
एएफसी च्यालेन्ज कप फुटबल-२०१२
Logo of the 2012 AFC Challenge Cup
Tournament details
Host countryNepal
Dates8–19 March
Teams8
Venue(s)2 (in 1 host city)
Final positions
Champions North Korea (2nd title)
Runners-up Turkmenistan
Third place Philippines
Fourth place Palestine
Tournament statistics
Matches played16
Goals scored42 (2.63 per match)
Attendance50,000 (3,125 per match)
Top scorer(s) Phil Younghusband
(6 goals)
Best player(s) Pak Nam-Chol

Hosts

Maldives, Nepal, and Palestine expressed an interest to bid to host the tournament. A decision on which country would be hosts was set to be made by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) on 14 June 2011,[4] but was deferred until the AFC Executive Committee on 29 July 2011.[5] The committee decided to endorse Nepal as the hosts of the AFC Challenge Cup 2012 Finals.[6]

Venues
Kathmandu Kathmandu
Dasarath Rangasala Stadium Halchowk Stadium
Capacity: 17,800 Capacity: 3,500

Qualification
Main article: 2012 AFC Challenge Cup qualification

The qualification stage saw 20 eligible member associations compete in qualifiers.[7]

  • An initial pre-qualifying round (home and away) narrowed the field to 16 teams.
  • The final qualifying round consist of four groups of four teams each with the group winners and runners-up qualifying.
  • Only the eight teams that qualified for the tournament finals were permitted to bid to be hosts.

Qualified nations
  •  Palestine – Qualification Group A winners
  •  Philippines – Qualification Group A runners-up
  •  India – Qualification Group B winners
  •  Turkmenistan – Qualification Group B runners-up
  •  Maldives – Qualification Group C winners
  •  Tajikistan – Qualification Group C runners-up
  •  North Korea – Qualification Group D winners
  •    Nepal – Qualification Group D runners-up

Draw

The draw for the final tournament was held on 1 December 2011 at the Soaltee Crown Plaza Hotel in Kathmandu, Nepal.[8]

Squads
Main article: 2012 AFC Challenge Cup squads

Each team could name a squad of 23 players.[9]

Group stage

All times are Nepal Time (NPT) – UTC+5:45

Key to colours in group tables
Top two placed teams advance to the semi-finals

Tie-breaking criteria

The teams are ranked according to points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a tie, 0 points for a loss) and tie breakers are in following order:[9]

  1. Greater number of points obtained in the group matches between the teams concerned;
  2. Goal difference resulting from the group matches between the teams concerned;
  3. Greater number of goals scored in the group matches between the teams concerned;
  4. Goal difference in all the group matches;
  5. Greater number of goals scored in all the group matches;
  6. Kicks from the penalty mark if only two teams are involved and they are both on the field of play;
  7. Fewer score calculated according to the number of yellow and red cards received in the group matches; (1 point for each yellow card, 3 points for each red card as a consequence of two yellow cards, 3 points for each direct red card, 4 points for each yellow card followed by a direct red card)
  8. Drawing of lots.

Group A
Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 Turkmenistan 3 2 1 0 6 1 +5 7
 Palestine 3 2 1 0 4 0 +4 7
 Maldives 3 1 0 2 2 5 −3 3
   Nepal 3 0 0 3 0 6 −6 0
Source:
Turkmenistan 3–1 Maldives
Mingazow  33'
Çoňkaýew  78'
Amanow  85'		 Report Adhuham  20'
Attendance: 1,000
Referee: Yousef Al-Marzouq (Kuwait)
Nepal   0–2 Palestine
Report Attieh  4'
Attal  65'
Attendance: 12,300
Referee: Ryuji Sato (Japan)
Palestine 0–0 Turkmenistan
Report
Attendance: 1,000
Maldives 1–0   Nepal
Rasheed  51' Report
Attendance: 15,000
Referee: Dmitriy Mashentsev (Kyrygyzstan)
Nepal   0–3 Turkmenistan
Report Tagaýew  7'
Biraj  79' (o.g.)
Hangeldiýew  89'
Attendance: 2,400
Referee: Ali Sabbagh (Lebanon)
Maldives 0–2 Palestine
Report Wadi  59'
Nu'man  90+4'
Attendance: 300
Referee: Dmitriy Mashentsev (Kyrygyzstan)

Group B
Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
 North Korea 3 3 0 0 8 0 +8 9
 Philippines 3 2 0 1 4 3 +1 6
 Tajikistan 3 1 0 2 3 4 −1 3
 India 3 0 0 3 0 8 −8 0
Source:
North Korea 2–0 Philippines
Pak Nam-Chol I  58'
Jang Kuk-chol  70'		 Report
Attendance: 1,500
Referee: Pratap Singh (India)
India 0–2 Tajikistan
Report Khamroqulov  61'
Davronov  66'
Attendance: 700
Referee: Ali Sabbagh (Lebanon)
Tajikistan 0–2 North Korea
Report Pak Nam-Chol I  4'
Jang Kuk-chol  86'
Attendance: 1,000
Referee: Yousef Al-Marzouq (Kuwait)
Philippines 2–0 India
P. Younghusband  10', 73' Report
Attendance: 300
North Korea 4–0 India
Jon Kwang-ik  3'
Ri Kwang-hyok  34'
Pak Nam-Chol I  59'
Ri Chol-myong  70'		 Report
Attendance: 200
Tajikistan 1–2 Philippines
Negmatov  45+1' Report P. Younghusband  54'
Á. Guirado  80'
Attendance: 800
Referee: Ryuji Sato (Japan)

Knockout stage
 
Semi-finalsFinal
 
      
 
16 March
 
 
 Turkmenistan2
 
19 March
 
 Philippines1
 
 Turkmenistan1
 
16 March
 
 North Korea2
 
 North Korea2
 
 
 Palestine0
 
Third place
 
 
19 March
 
 
 Philippines4
 
 
 Palestine3

Semi-finals
Turkmenistan 2–1 Philippines
Amanow  80'
Çoňkaýew  86'		 Report P. Younghusband  25'
Attendance: 500
North Korea 2–0 Palestine
Pak Kwang-ryong  42', 68' Report
Attendance: 3,000
Referee: Yousef Al-Marzouq (Kuwait)

Third place play-off
Philippines 4–3 Palestine
P. Younghusband  4', 25' (pen.)
Á. Guirado  42'
J. Guirado  69'		 Report Abuhabib  21', 67'
Attal  78'
Attendance: 1,000
Referee: Ali Sabbagh (Lebanon)

Final
Main article: 2012 AFC Challenge Cup Final
Turkmenistan 1–2 North Korea
Şamyradow  2' Report Jong Il-gwan  36'
Jang Song-hyok  87' (pen.)
Attendance: 9,000
Referee: Ryuji Sato (Japan)

Statistics

Winner
 2012 AFC Challenge Cup Champions 

North Korea
Second title

Individual Awards

The following awards were given for the 2012 AFC Challenge Cup:[10][11]

Fair Play Award Golden Shoe Most Valuable Player
 North Korea Phil Younghusband Pak Nam-Chol I

Team of the tournament

The team of the tournament – Dream Team in a 4-4-2 formation.

Goalscorers
6 goals
3 goals
2 goals
1 goal
1 own goal

Post-tournament team ranking

As per statistical convention in football, matches decided in extra time are counted as wins and losses, while matches decided by penalty shoot-outs are counted as draws.

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD
 North Korea 5 5 0 0 12 1 +11
 Turkmenistan 5 3 1 1 9 4 +5
 Philippines 5 3 0 2 9 8 +1
 Palestine 5 2 1 2 7 6 +1
 Tajikistan 3 1 0 2 3 4 −1
 Maldives 3 1 0 2 2 5 −3
   Nepal 3 0 0 3 0 6 −6
 India 3 0 0 3 0 8 −8
Source:

References
  1. "AFC Calendar of Competitions 2012 (Men)" (PDF). The-AFC.com. Asian Football Confederation. Retrieved 26 March 2011.
  2. "No direct entry for 2012 AFC Challenge Cup". The-AFC.com. Asian Football Confederation. 17 May 2010. Archived from the original on 17 August 2018. Retrieved 17 May 2010.
  3. "AFC Competitions Committee". The-AFC.com. Asian Football Confederation. 23 November 2010. Retrieved 27 January 2011.
  4. "Maldives, Nepal and Palestine bidding to host CC 2012 Finals". The-AFC.com. Asian Football Confederation. 23 May 2011. Retrieved 23 May 2011.
  5. "Chinese Taipei to host AFC President's Cup Finals". The-AFC.com. Asian Football Confederation. 14 June 2011. Retrieved 14 June 2011.
  6. "Message of unity from AFC ExCo". The-AFC.com. Asian Football Confederation. 29 July 2011. Retrieved 29 July 2011.
  7. "No direct entry for 2012 AFC Challenge Cup". The-AFC.com. Asian Football Confederation. 13 August 2010. Retrieved 21 August 2010.
  8. "Nepal's luck of the draw". The-AFC.com. Asian Football Confederation. Retrieved 1 December 2011.
  9. "Competition Regulations AFC Challenge Cup Nepal 2012". The-AFC.com. Asian Football Confederation. Retrieved 16 February 2012.
  10. "Pak scoops MVP award". The-AFC.com. Asian Football Confederation. 19 March 2012. Retrieved 23 March 2012.
  11. "Six-shooter Phil takes top scorer title". The-AFC.com. Asian Football Confederation. 19 March 2012. Archived from the original on 11 September 2012. Retrieved 22 March 2012.
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