When Keir Starmer met Xi Jinping recently, reporters said the British prime minister was shocked at his Chinese counterpart calling Crystal Palace Palace, liking Manchester City and Arsenal and supporting Manchester United. The reasons can be guessed. Fan Zhiyi was popular at Selhurst Park in the late 1990s, Sun Jihai was a cult hero at Maine Road and Manchester United had Dong Fangzhuo. The president of the world's second most populous country and second biggest economy didn't, however, mention Everton.
With a pair of Chinese titles to add to his J1 League crown with Yokohama F Marinos and a pair of A-League Men championships with Melbourne Victory, this 2025 crown reinforces Muscat as one of Australia's most successful coaches. Ever. Very few Australians strike out abroad, or are afforded the opportunity to, and even fewer go on to lift silverware, let alone lift silverware in two of Asia's strongest leagues.