Best current Asian XI in football

Son Heung-Min has been the flagbearer of Asian football for the last few years

Centre Defensive Midfielder - Odil Ahmedov (Uzbekistan)

In the three-man midfield, the holding role will be played by Uzbek international Odil Ahmedov. He is Uzbekistan's best player currently and captain of the national football team. He is currently playing in the Chinese Super League with Shanghai SIPG with the likes of Oscar and Hulk. The 31-year-old has previously played club football with Krasnodar and Anzhi in the Russian Premier League.

He has scored 17 goals and assisted 2 in 77 caps for the national side. He can act as a shield in front of the back four and also has the ability to split defences with accurate through balls. An industrious, reliable and intelligent holding or central midfielder, he is a solid option to make up a base for the other attack-minded players.

Right Centre Midfielder - Aaron Mooy (Aus)

The second Australian in the starting XI, Aaron Mooy is Australia's best player and one of the best in the whole of Asia. He was an integral and instrumental part in Huddersfield Town's promotional campaign as well as their fight for survival in the Premier League. However, with Huddersfield destined to go down this season, it is very likely that Mooy might remain in the Premier League.

Mooy has scored 5 and assisted an impressive 14 in 39 caps for Australia. For Huddersfield, he has made 114 appearances scoring 10 and assisting another 15 goals. He is a smart and elegant midfielder and the one who would pull the strings for this side in the middle of the park. His vision and passing bring creativity into the side. He will be the creative driving force for this side.

Left Centre Midfielder - Shinji Kagawa (Japan)

Yes, Shinji Kagawa usually plays as an attacking midfielder. However, he can play in the centre of midfield in a 4-3-3 formation. In such a formation, one player usually sits in front of the backline, one player handles the link-up between the midfield and attack with accurate passes and one player goes in and around the opposition box to support the attackers.

In my opinion, Kagawa is too good a player to be left out of any side that he plays for and is, again, in my opinion, the second best Asian footballer currently playing. He has earned 97 caps for Japan, scoring and assisting 31 and 21 times respectively. He has enjoyed his best spells at Dortmund and is enjoying another one on loan at Besiktas with 3 goals and 1 assist in 6 games (at the time of writing). For Dortmund, he has scored 60 goals and assisted 55 in 216 appearances.

However, what is special about Kagawa is that even when he is not contributing to the goals, his vision, movement and work rate will definitely cause plenty of problems for the opposition. While attacking, the formation of this team can shift from a 4-3-3 to a 4-2-3-1 and then back to 4-3-3 when defending. Kagawa, therefore, brings fluidity to the side.

Edited by Aaditya Narayan