Although Asian football is never as glamorous as European and South American football, they still have a huge followers, especially in soccer-crazy nations such as Malaysia, Thailand and Qatar.

Below is an introduction to some of the legendary Asian footballers ever graced the game. They may not be as well-known as Pele, Maradona or Zidane, but their individual achievement for their nations is certainly impressive.

Also see The Legends

Name: Mokhtar Dahari

Date of Birth: 13 November 1953

Date of Death: 11 July 1991

Position: Striker

Club: Selangor FC (Malaysia), RHB Bank (Malaysia)

National Caps: 167 (125 goals)

Current Status: Deceased

Mokhtar Dahari was a legendary Malaysian football who flourished in the 1970s. In his 15 seasons playing for Selangor FC, he helped the club won the Malaysia Cup 10 times.

A firm international for Malaysia, Mokhtar was the all-time top scorer with 125 goals in 167 caps (All-time appearances for Malaysia is defender Soh Chin Aun with 252 caps in the 1950s). Beside his incredible goalscoring record, Mokhtar also famously scored two goals against Arsenal and one against the England B team in both friendlies.

Sadly, Mokhtar passed away at a young age of 37 in 1970 from a central nervous system disease.

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Name: Hong Myung-Bo

Date of Birth: 12 February 1969

Position: Sweeper

Club: Pohang Steelers (South Korea), Bellmare Hiratsuka & Kashiwa Reysol (Japan), LA Galaxy (USA)

National Caps: 136 (10 goals)

Current Status: Manager of South Korea Under-21 national

Hong Myung-Bo is one of the best Asian footballers ever played, and is the only Asian player to receive the World Cup Bronze Ball in 2002.

Making his debut for South Korea in 1990, Hong has played in four World Cups, which also included the 1994, 1998 and 2002 World Cup. He captained the national team to their best ever fourth place in the 2002 World Cup.

A commanding defender and an influential player, Hong has spent most of his football career in his native South Korea as well as Japan. After the success in the 2002 World Cup, Hong would spent one season playing in the Major League Soccer of the United States before his retirement from professional football.

For an international career that spanned over 12 years, Hong has collected 136 caps, an all-time appearances record for South Korea national team. He was appointed as the assistant manager of the South Korea team soon after his retirement as a player.

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Name: Fandi bin Ahmad

Date of Birth: 29 May 1962

Position: Striker

Club: Singapore, Niac Mitra (Indonesia), Groningen (Holland), Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), Crete (Greece), Pahang (Malaysia), Geylang United & SAFFC (Singapore)

National Caps: 100* (50 goal) (*unconfirmed)

Current Status: Manager of Pelita Jaya FC (Indonesia)

Fandi Ahmad is the greatest footballer ever produced by Singapore. He was previously the youngest ever player to represent Singapore at an age of 16. Making his debut in 1978, a talented Fandi was spotted and offered a place by Ajax, who was famous for producing and developing young players. However Fandi rejected due to adaptability issues.

Fandi did try out European football in 1983, when he moved to Groningen, and he impressed greatly by scoring against Inter Milan in a second round of the UEFA Cup. Fandi ended with an impressive 10 goals in 29 games in his debut season for Groningen.

After the Holland experience, Fandi returned to play in Malaysia and Singapore and, apart from a short stint in Greece, he never played in Europe again despite several offers. It is reported that later Fandi greatly regretted his decision of not continuing his career in Europe.

With the launch of S-League in Singapore in 1996, Fandi returned home to help SAFFC clinch two titles. After his retirement as a player, he went on to manage SAFFC and won another title in 2000.

As a long-time regular and captain for the Singapore national team, Fandi collected over 100 caps and scored 50 goals (all-time top scorer for Singapore). However, some of the matches were not recognised by FIFA.

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Name: Mohamed Abdullaziz Al-Deayea

Date of Birth: 2 August 1972

Position: Goalkeeper

Club: Al-Ta'ee, Al-Hilal (both Saudi Arabia)

National Caps: 181 (0 goals)

Current Status: Player

Mohamed Al-Deayea is a legendary goalkeeper in Saudi Arabia, spending all of his 19 years so far playing locally.

At 1.91m tall and blessed with good reflexes and shot-stopping techniques, Mohamed was once approached by English giant Manchester United to replace Fabien Barthez in 2001. However, his dream of becoming the first Saudi Arabian to play in the Premier League was dashed after his work permit application was rejected by Britain.

For 16 years since 1990, Mohamed was the regular first-choice goalkeeper for Saudi Arabia until his international retirement in 2006. He has played in 4 World Cups from 1994 to 2006, but since Saudi Arabia is traditionally a whipping boy in the World Cup, Mohamed could only do his best. The lowest point in his international career was probably the group game against Germany in 2002, where he picked up the ball from his own net eight times.

Mohamed is the current record holder of the most international caps by a male footballer.

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Name: Ali Daei

Date of Birth: 21 March 1969

Position: Striker

Club: Esteghlal Ardabil, Taxirani, Bank Tejarat, Persepolis (all Iran), Al-Sadd (Qatar), Bielefeld, Bayern Munich, Hertha Berlin (all Germany), Al-Shabab (UAE), Persepolis, Saba Battery, Saipa (all Iran)

National Caps: 149 (109 goals)

Current Status: Manager of Persepolis (Iran)

Ali Daei is officially recognised by FIFA as the world's all-time leading scorer in the international matches. He holds an amazing record of scoring 109 goals in 149 caps for Iran, which both stats are Iran's current national records.

Daei began his football career in 1988, and he got his big break almost ten years later when he moved to German Bundesliga. He became the most expensive Asian during that time and was the first Asian to play in the Champions League.

After winning the league title and the runnerup medal in the Champions League with Bayern Munich in 1999, Daei would spend another couple of seasons in Germany before returning to the Middle East.

He continued his goalscoring form and successes in UAE and his native Iran, and after a glittering 20 years football career, Daei decided to call it a day in 2007 at an age of 38.

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Name: Lê Huynh Ðuc

Date of Birth: 20 April 1972

Position: Striker

Club: 7th Army Division FC, Ho Chi Minh Police FC, East Asian Bank (all Vietnam), Chongqing Lifan (China), Da Nang FC (Vietnam)

National Caps: 63 (30 goals)

Current Status: Player-Manager of Da Nang FC (Vietnam), Assistant Manager of Vietnam National Team

Lê Huynh Ðuc is the holder of Vietnam national team's all-time most caps and goals. He is regarded as the best player Vietnam has ever produced.

Burst into action since 1995, Lê Huynh Ðuc has dominated in the Vietnam league from the late nineties to the early 2000s. He has claimed the Vietnamese Golden Ball three times, as well as winning the Silver one three times.

As the only player to have participated in the Tiger Cup (Southeast Asian Cup) from 1996 to 2004, Lê Huynh Ðuc is also the competition's all-time goalscorer. The prolific striker also represented his nation Vietnam in three SEA Games.

Currently a player-manager at Vietnamese club Da Nang FC, Lê Huynh Ðuc intends to move into full-time club management after his playing days are over.

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Name: Hidetoshi Nakata

Date of Birth: 22 January 1977

Position: Attacking Midfielder

Club: Bellmare Hiratsuka (Japan), Perugia, Roma, Parma, Bologna, Fiorentina (all Italy), Bolton (England)

National Caps: 77 (11 goals)

Current Status: Businessman

Nakata is one of the most high profiled footballers to emerge from Japan. He is credited for being the catalyst of Asian and Japanese football.

Starting his football career in 1995 at an age of 18, Nakata would spend only four seasons playing in the J-League. After the 1998 World Cup, Nakata signed for Italy's Perugia, where he performed admirably with 12 goals in 48 games.

Roma took an interest of him and brought him to the capital. Nakata impressed enough to feature regularly and even helped the club won their Scudetto in 2001, their only third title in more than 70 years of history.

After Roma, Nakata continued his career in Italy with Parma, Bolgona and Fiorentina, and participated in the 2002 and 2006 World Cup. The highlights came in 2001 and 2002, where Nakata led Japan to the Conferderations Cup runnerup and the last 16 of the World Cup.

In 2005, Nakata was awarded the Knight of the Star of Italian Solidarity, one of Italy's highest honours, for his contributions in the improvement of Italy's overseas images.

A season-loan with Bolton and the last participation in the World Cup of 2006 marked the end of Nakata's glamorous career. A weary Nakata has retired from professional football at an age of only 29.

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Name: Paulino Alcantara Riestra

Date of Birth: 07 October 1896

Date of Death: 13 February 1964

Position: Striker

Club: Barcelona (Spain), Bohemain Sporting Club (Philippines)

National Caps: 5 (6 goals) for Spain

Current Status: Deceased

Alcantara was a legendary figure in football, being the first Filipino and Asian player to play in Europe. Beside this record, he was also the youngest player to play and score for Barcelona, at an age of only 15, and introduce his arrival at the Spanish club with a hattrick in a 9-0 thrashing of Catala SC.

In 13 years with Barcelona, Alcantara went on to score an amazing 357 goals in 357 games, an all-time record that still remains intact today. At the end of his football career at only 31 years old, Alcantara won 10 titles and 5 cups with Barcelona.

After his playing days were over, Alcantara became a doctor but still remained in touch with football. He became a club director in Barcelona for several years and was appointed as the manager of Spain in 1951.

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