Best current Asian XI in football

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

Left Winger - Heung-min Son (South Korea)

He is the star of our XI and in my opinion, the best Asian footballer actively playing. Son made his name in Germany, first with Hamburger SV, scoring 20 goals and providing 3 assists in 79 appearances and then with Bayer Leverkusen scoring 29 goals and assisting another 11 in 87 appearances. After his exploits in Germany, he achieved what very few Asians have; success in the Premier League.

The South Korea captain has 77 caps to his name, scoring 24 and assisting 16 goals. The 26-year-old has had a meteoric rise since joining Tottenham and has established himself as a vital cog in a brilliant Spurs side. After donning the Spurs jersey, Son has made 179 appearances, scoring 64 and assisting 35 goals.

Son can play in a variety of positions namely Left Wing, Centre Forward, Right Wing, Second Striker and Attacking Midfield. However, he looks at his best playing on the left wing, using quick feet to beat opponents and then use his lethal finish to win games. Thus this where he will play in this XI.

Right Winger - Tom Rogic (Australia)

Tom Rogic is one of the more familiar Asian players as he plays club football at Celtic. At the young age of 26, Rogic has taken the field for the Scottish giants 160 times, scoring 34 and assisting 28 goals. His wonderful technique, an eye for a defence-splitting pass and fairly regular goal scoring have made him a bit of a fan favourite.

Capped 46 times by Australia, he has scored 8 goals and assisted 2 for the national side. He is 6'2" tall but possesses good pace for a man of that height. Thus he can beat his opponent with pace and can also cause havoc in the box when a cross comes in.

Although he plays primarily as an attacking midfielder for Celtic, he has played as a right winger with some success and Rogic, similar to Kagawa, is too good to leave out of the XI. He is an extremely versatile player having played in 7 different positions on the field.

Centre Forward - Sardar Azmoun (Iran)

Although Iran national football team is better known for its defensive capabilities, Sardar Azmoun is an exception to that notion. The 24-year-old is a brilliant centre forward with genuine creativity, exceptional aerial ability and a not-so-infrequent burst of pace.

Touted to be the heir to legendary Iranian striker Ali Daei, Azmoun has scored 27 times in 44 caps for Iran and was a vital component of their journey to the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Currently playing league football for Zenit St. Petersburg, the Iranian centre forwards has previously taken the field for FK Rostov and Rubin Kazan, scoring 25 and 17 times respectively.

He is an out-and-out centre forward who loves to get into the box, expects service from his teammates and then ensures that the oppositions net bulges. In a team filled with so much creative talent, an attacker like Azmoun will make sure that all the creativity behind him counts.

This completes the best current Asian XI in a 4-3-3 formation.

The Bench

(GK) Neil Etheridge (Philippines), (RB) Trent Sainsbury (Australia), (CB) Majid Hosseini (Iran), (CM) Ja-Cheol Koo (South Korea), (AM) Jae-sung Lee (South Korea), (LW) Lei Wu (China), (CF) Sunil Chhetri (India).

Edited by Aaditya Narayan