Marmar, who steered Al Ahed to the AFC Cup title last year, replaces Serbian head coach Miodrag Ješić and takes charge ahead of the league’s resumption on August 11.

The 34-year-old striker had been influential in Al Hilal's 2019 AFC Champions League title victory, winning the MOst Valuable Player and Top Scorer awards with 11 goals.

Team Melli Javanan will face host nation Uzbekistan, as well as Indonesia and Cambodia in Group A of the continental tournament.

Mazloumi – who returns following a four-year absence from top-level coaching - replaces former head coach Sirous Pourmousavi, who stepped down from the role in June.

Wellington now trail the runaway leaders by 11 points with only three games left to play after substitute Ulises Davila saw his 88th-minute penalty saved by in-form Reds gloveman Paul Izzo at Bankwest Stadium.

Jaushua Sotirio levelled five minutes after Kristian Opseth had put Adelaide ahead on the hour mark and, although the draw lifts Phoenix ahead of Melbourne City into second place, the Sky Blues cannot be caught in the race for the Premiers Plate.

Asia has had no shortage of these storylines, with a range of pioneering football exports and national team icons going back to where it all started to cap off their careers.

To coincide with FC Seoul’s signing of former Korea Republic captain Ki Sung-yueng, the-AFC.com looks at eight local heroes who returned, and thrived, after years abroad.

The Barcelona legend and 2010 FIFA World Cup winner – who will be absent when Al Sadd meet Al Khor in Saturday’s league fixture - announced his diagnosis via the club’s official Twitter account, telling fans that he was “feeling okay”.

Yahya Golmohammadi’s side prevailed 2-1 in the match at Behnam Mohammadi Stadium.

Needing a single point on the night to close out the title race, Ali Alipour and Mehdi Abdi Qara scored either side of half-time to put Persepolis in a commanding position, with Hossein Ebrahimi’s 71st minute penalty serving as consolation for the hosts.