The Asian Cup – the 9th Asian championship. The finals were played in Qatar and 10 teams qualified to them – Saudi Arabia as current Cup holders, Qatar as hosts, and the top 2 teams from the 4 qualifying groups, which were also played in round-robin tournaments. 20 teams participated in them.
Group 1, played in Abu Dhabi, UAE.
1.UAE 5 4 1 0 12- 1 9
2.CHINA 5 3 2 0 10- 0 8
3.North Yemen 5 1 3 1 5- 5 5
4.Thailand 5 1 2 2 5-12 4
5.Bangladesh 5 0 3 2 1- 9 3
6.India 5 0 1 4 0- 6 1
Group 2, played in Kuala Lumpur, Malyasia.
1.KUWAIT 4 3 1 0 9- 0 7
2.JAPAN 4 2 1 1 6- 3 5
3.Jordan 4 1 3 0 2- 1 5
4.Malaysia 4 1 1 2 4- 6 3
5.Pakistan 4 0 0 4 1-12 0
Group 3, played in Katmandu, Nepal.
1.SYRIA 4 3 1 0 8- 2 7
2.IRAN 4 2 2 0 6- 1 6
3.North Korea 4 2 1 1 3- 2 5
4.Hongkong 4 0 1 3 0- 5 1
5.Nepal 4 0 1 3 0- 7 1
Group 4, played in Jakarta, Indonesia.
1.BAHRAIN 3 2 1 0 4- 0 5
2.SOUTH KOREA 3 1 1 1 5- 3 3
3.Indonesia 3 1 1 1 1- 4 3
4.South Yemen 3 0 1 2 1- 4 1
The finals were played in Dhoha, December 1988.
Group 1.
1.SOUTH KOREA 4 4 0 0 9- 2 8
2.IRAN 4 2 1 1 3- 3 5
3.Qatar 4 2 0 2 7- 6 4
4.UAE 4 1 0 3 2- 4 2
5.Japan 4 0 1 3 0- 6 1
Group 2.
1.SAUDI ARABIA 4 2 2 0 4- 1 6
2.CHINA 4 2 1 1 6- 3 5
3.Syria 4 2 0 2 2- 5 4
4.Kuwait 4 0 3 1 2- 3 3
5.Bahrain 4 0 2 2 1- 3 2
In the semifinals South Korea prevailed over China in overtime 2-1 (93,102 Lee Tae Ho; 100 Mai Chao] and Saudi Arabia won in regular time over Iran 1-0 ( 20 Majed Abdullah).
Third place match: Iran and China finished 0-0 and Iran won penalty shoot-out 3-0.
The final was played on December, 18 and ended in a scoreless tie: Saudi Arabia – South Korea 0-0. In the penalty shoot-out Saudi Arabia prevailed 4-3.
Asian football was getting stronger too – at least at the top level.
South Korea, with its few European-based professional players was hold at bay by inspired Saudis.
And the Saudis triumphed at the end.
South Korea ended with silver medals. Bad luck, but good performance.
Saudi Arabia won its 2nd consecutive Asian Cup.
Important victory, of course, especially if taken into perspective – although still unknown outside their continent, the Saudis were rapidly developing and they already established themselves as continental power. Soon the world would see they were not just an exotic team.