Soccer-The week in Asian football

"Akram was named the most valuable player of the match, he's a very high-quality player and he deserves that," Qatar coach Tintin Marquez said. MINAMINO'S DOUBLE ENSURES JAPAN REGISTER WIN OVER VIETNAM Asian Cup favourites Japan fought back from a goal down to beat Vietnam 4-2 defeat in their opener on Sunday, with Takumi Minamino scoring twice for the four-times champions. Japan were given a fright when goals from Nguyen Dinh Bac and Pham Tuan Hai put Vietnam 2-1 up after Minamino's opener, but a second from the midfielder and strikes from Keito Nakamura and Ayase Ueda sealed victory.

Talking points from the week in Asian football:

CHAMPIONS QATAR KICK OFF ASIAN CUP DEFENCE WITH LEBANON WIN Asian Cup hosts Qatar kicked off their title defence with a 3-0 win over Lebanon in the tournament opener on Friday with a brace from playmaker Akram Afif and a goal from Almoez Ali.

Following a glitzy opening ceremony with Qatar's ruler Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani in attendance at the Lusail Stadium, Afif put on a show of his own to kickstart their campaign with three valuable points in the bag. "Akram was named the most valuable player of the match, he's a very high-quality player and he deserves that," Qatar coach Tintin Marquez said.

MINAMINO'S DOUBLE ENSURES JAPAN REGISTER WIN OVER VIETNAM Asian Cup favourites Japan fought back from a goal down to beat Vietnam 4-2 defeat in their opener on Sunday, with Takumi Minamino scoring twice for the four-times champions.

Japan were given a fright when goals from Nguyen Dinh Bac and Pham Tuan Hai put Vietnam 2-1 up after Minamino's opener, but a second from the midfielder and strikes from Keito Nakamura and Ayase Ueda sealed victory. Former champions Australia also made a winning start to their campaign, defeating India 2-0 on Saturday, while Iran cruised to a comfortable 4-1 victory over Palestine.

WELLINGTON BACK ON TOP IN AUSTRALIA AFTER VICTORY OVER PERTH Wellington Phoenix returned to the top of the A-League on Sunday as Kosta Barbarouses' double delivered a 4-3 win over Perth Glory after Melbourne Victory had been held 1-1 by Central Coast Mariners.

Victory led the standings going into the weekend and looked set to claim another three points after Daniel Arzani's penalty had given them the lead over the Mariners, but Jing Reec scored in the 89th minute to earn Central Coast a point. JAPAN'S MOST-CAPPED PLAYER ENDO CALLS TIME ON CLUB CAREER

Former Asian Player of the Year and Japan's most-capped player Yasuhito Endo announced his retirement on Tuesday, ending a career that saw him feature at three World Cups for the Samurai Blue. The 43-year-old, who played 152 times for Japan including at the 2006, 2010 and 2014 World Cups and was a member of the Asian Cup-winning squads in 2004 and 2011, called time on his career after spending his final season with Jubilo Iwata.

The midfielder spent most of his club career with Gamba Osaka, who he led to the league title in 2005 and 2014 while also winning the Asian Champions League in 2008. He was named Asian Player of the Year in 2009.