Kyrgyz Republic’s FK Abdysh-Ata Kant and Taichung Futuro FC of Chinese Taipei will face off in the first of the semifinal ties on Wednesday while Australia’s Central Coast Mariners will take on India’s Odisha FC a day later.
Ahead of the crunch match-ups, AFC Media takes a look at the players who could decide the fortunes of their respective sides.
Joshua Nisbet – Central Coast Mariners
He might be only 24 years old, but Joshua Nisbet is already in his sixth season with the Central Coast Mariners, and the 2023/24 campaign is proving to be the midfielder’s most productive yet as he pulls the strings for a Mariners side looking to defend their A-League title at home and also win the AFC Cup during their debut campaign.
Mariners won their first A-League title in 10 years last season but then saw a flurry of departures, including that of top scorer Jason Cummings, Marco Tulio, Sammy Silvera and head coach Nick Montgomery. However, after a rocky start to the new season, Mark Jackson’s decision to move Nisbet into a more advanced role in the midfield worked wonders for the Mariners, not just domestically but also in Asia.
The Central Coast academy graduate opened his account in the AFC Cup with a goal and an assist in a 9-1 win against Stallion Laguna on Matchday Two and followed it up with two more assists against Bali United in their next outing. Nisbet’s fifth – and best – assist came in Mariners’ extra-time win against Macarthur FC in the ASEAN Zonal final and he will be hoping to shine once more against Odisha.
Kayrat Zhyrgalbek Uulu – FK Abdysh-Ata Kant
After failing to make it to the knockout stages of the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023 earlier this year, Kyrgyz Republic captain Kayrat Zhyrgalbek will be setting his sights on continental success as he turns out for AFC Cup debutants FK Abdysh-Ata Kant in the Inter-Zone semifinals against Taichung Futuro.
Abdysh-Ata have dominated in their maiden continental campaign, reaching the knockout stage undefeated by winning five of their group stage matches. Zhyrgalbek scored his side’s first-ever AFC Cup goal in their 3-0 win against Altyn Asyr in the opener before hitting the leveller in a 1-1 draw with FC Merw. He then signed off the group stage campaign with a double as Abdysh-Ata posted a resounding 8-3 win against the same opposition.
The versatile 30-year-old gives head coach Islam Akhmedov plenty of tactical flexibility as he is adept at playing as a right-back, on the wings and in midfield, and has even led the line up front on occasions – all the while popping up with crucial goals, so there is no doubt Abdysh-Ata will be pinning their hopes on Zhyrgalbek to take them to the next stage.
Roy Krishna – Odisha FC
It will be a return to familiar surroundings for Roy Krishna as his Odisha FC face Central Coast Mariners in the Inter-Zone semifinals. The striker left his native Fiji in 2008 to pursue his career in New Zealand and spent six seasons in the A-League with Wellington Phoenix for whom he scored for fun.
He moved to India in 2019, winning the Indian Super League with ATK during his debut season and the Durand Cup in 2022 with Bengaluru FC. And even at the age of 36, he has not stopped scoring as he continues to be a prominent member of the Odisha side who lead the Indian Super League standings and are continuing to make their first-ever continental campaign a memorable one.
Krishna has been a guiding force in Odisha’s AFC Cup journey as they bounced back from back-to-back defeats to win four consecutive matches and finish top of Group D. Krishna’s brilliant solo goal late on gave Odisha a 3-2 win against Maziya Sports & Recreation on Matchday Four and the attacker bagged another goal and two assists as they overcame Mohun Bagan Super Giant 5-2 to come back from the brink.
Hsu Heng-pin – Taichung Futuro
Taichung Futuro progressed to the Inter-Zone semifinals by the finest of margins as head-to-head goal difference came to their rescue after finishing level on points with FC Ulaanbaatar at the top of Group I. After the Mongolian side had taken a 2-0 lead on the final matchday, it was a 71st-minute header from Hsu Heng-pin that sent them through despite a 2-1 defeat in Kaohsiung.
Taichung and Hsu’s AFC Cup journey began back in August when he provided the assist for Liang Meng-hsin’s opener in a 2-1 playoff win against Monte Carlo in Macau. He continued to exert his influence in the group stage, hitting the target in a vital 2-0 victory against Ulaanbaatar and also in a comeback win against fellow Chinese Taipei side Tainan City.
The 30-year-old has plenty of experience under his belt at club level and has featured for the Chinese Taipei national team too. But this is his maiden AFC Cup campaign and Hsu will be hoping to script history with Taichung by taking them deeper into the competition.