Asia's elite: Five who can thrive on continental stage
Prolific striker Mabkhout's five goals saw him bag the top scorer award at the last Asian Cup as the UAE reached the semifinals. He scored the winner in the third-place playoff and went on to be named the 2015 Asian Player of the Year. Mabkhout lit up the group stages in Australia with the fastest goal in Asian Cup history, just 14 seconds into the UAE's victory over Bahrain. The 28-year-old, who plays for Al Jazira in Abu Dhabi, has a phenomenal strike rate, having bagged 44 goals for his country in 65 appearances. He will have the extra burden of carrying home hopes－the UAE reached its only previous final as host in 1996, losing to Saudi Arabia－in the absence of injured star playmaker Omar "Amoory" Abdulrahman, the 2016 Asian Player of the Year.
