AFC Champions League: Kitchee’s Dejan Damjanovic hopes to continue spectacular form as he chases all-time goalscoring record

Kitchee forward Dejan Damjanovic hopes to take his spectacular sharpshooting form in domestic football on to the Asian stage as he looks to become the greatest goalscorer in AFC Champions League (ACL) history.

The 39-year-old Montenegrin is second on the all-time ACL scoring charts on 36 goals, one behind Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors’ Lee Dong-gook. Having banged in the goals in an Asian career based mostly in South Korea, Damjanovic reached the final in 2013 with FC Seoul and the semi-finals with Suwon Blue Wings in 2019.

He will celebrate his 40th birthday on July 27 but he wants to do that as the number one goalscorer in the ACL, having scored 17 goals in 14 matches – including two hat-tricks and a double in the decider against Eastern – to help Kitchee become Hong Kong champions in May.

“This is the main reason I am here, I don’t want to lie,” said Damjanovic, who arrived in Hong Kong in February and spent three weeks in quarantine before playing his first game for Kitchee. “I said I am more than interested if Kitchee is playing ACL. I want to compete in the ACL, I don’t want to finish second, I want one more chance to get this record and play one more time on the biggest stage.”

Damjanovic will have at least six matches to score two goals and break Lee’s record – barring injury. Kitchee are in a tough group J for the ACL, taking on China giants Guangzhou Evergrande, Japan’s Cerezo Osaka and hosts FC Port, of Thailand in a double round-robin format at the I-Mobile Stadium in Buriram, northeast of Bangkok.

The striker has been a stunning success for Kitchee, with some of the Chinese-language media describing him as one of the best overseas forwards to ever play in Hong Kong. The father of two is also surprised by his form and is hoping the one-month break between the end of the Hong Kong Premier League and the ACL will not have an adverse effect on the team’s form.