AFC Champions League Matchday 1

Current A-League wooden spoon incumbents, Adelaide United, began their third Champions league campaign in fashion after an unusual goal from young star Matthew Leckie sealed the victory over the reigning champions Pohang Steelers.

The victory was a refreshing return to form for the Reds after a shocking 2009/10 campaign which saw them finish the season last-placed.

The teenager carried the ball the length of the pitch before a fortuitous break saw the ball end up in the back of the Steelers’ net as the 2008 finalists got the better of the 2009 champions in front of a crowd of 8374 at Hindmarsh Stadium.

Pohang opened the better of the two sides and almost took the lead inside five minutes when Michael Marrone failed to clear the dangerous No Byung-jun’s cross but Alexandro fired wide from close range. Mota went close just after the quarter-hour mark as his free kick flew narrowly past the post, although Reds keeper Eugene Galekovic appeared to have it covered.

As the fourth official indicated a minute of time was to be added on, United broke the deadlock with a lethal counter attack.From a Steelers’ corner, Leckie won the ball just outside his own box. The youngster carried it the length of the pitch and beat three men before creating confusion in the box between Shin and Park Hee-chul, who kicked ball against Leckie’s foot as he attempted to clear and watched it roll through the Pohang keeper’s legs. The goal on the stroke of half-time stunned the visitors and United began the second period with the same attacking intent.

Meanwhile, a second-half strike from former Newcastle Jets striker Joel Griffiths gave Beijing Guoan a winning start as the Chinese champions edged Melbourne Victory 1-0 at Beijing Workers’ Stadium on Tuesday.

The hosts were a constant threat throughout the clash but wasted a number of opportunities to defeat Victory by a bigger margin.

Merrick chose to keep the faith with the players that had beaten Sydney FC 2-1 in the first-leg of their A-League major semi-final last week but they struggled to break down the Beijing defence.

“Beijing played good football today and they deserved the victory,” he said. “Our attacks were not very effective while Joel Griffiths proved the difference.”

In the end, Griffiths’ goal six minutes into the second half was enough to secure all three points for Beijing which puts them second in Group E, behind Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma after the South Koreans beat Kawasaki Frontale of Japan 2-0.

Elsewhere, J. League champions Kashima Antlers also got their League campaign off to a winning start as they edged out Chinese side Changchun Yatai 1-0 in their opening Group F match on Tuesday at Kashima Soccer Stadium. Former Japan international Koji Nakata scored the game’s only goal in the 42nd minute for the hosts.

In Group G, a frustrated Gamba Osaka had to settle for a draw against Korean powerhouse Suwon Bluewings after a goal-less first-half. Whilst in Group B, goals from Rivaldo, Jasur Hasanov and Denilson secured Bunyodkor’s victory over Al Ittihad.

A sweet victory for Pohang

The Pohang Steelers went to the stadium Ittihad had called home for on two-weeks, and surprised the ‘hosts’ and their fans by claiming an inspirational two-one victory.

However, after the first forty-five minutes, it seemed like the title was there for the taking for Ittihad. In fact, there were only thirty odd seconds on the clock when their first decent opportunity came around. Pohang’s Hwa-young came rushing off his line to try and clear the ball but was beaten to it by Hicham Aboucherouane (what a name!). Unfortunately for Aboucherouane and Ittihad, he was unable to get the right finish on the ball and put it straight into the side netting. But it was an early sign of intent from the Saudi’s.

Pohang though were not planning on sitting back and soaking up the pressure, and after Denilson went close with a cross, Tae-soo hit a stinging strike that was destined for the bottom corner of the far post. But Zayed made a good stop to ensure a frantic opening remained goal-less.

Aboucherouane was proving to be a constant threat on the Pohang goal, and he tested Hwa-young numerous times, but the number one was equal to the task. That brought the first half to an end, but Ittihad would have wished it went on for a little bit longer. They were in the driver’s seat at this moment.

Things remained tense after the restart, with neither side able to take opportunities. However, on 57-minutes, that all changed. No Byung-jun stepped up to take a free kick from a dangerous position, and whilst it was not a peach of a delivery, the ball was able to evade the somewhat mediocre efforts of Noor in the wall, and sneak past Zayed, ending up in the back of the net. An unfortunate situation for Noor, who had simply been one of Ittihad’s best this campaign.

It only got better for Pohang though, ten minutes later and they were up by two. Kim Jae-sung looked up and found Kim Hung-il. Hung-il stayed composed and found the net with a wonderful header to shock Ittihad and the small crowd who had turned up for the final.

Things had gone pear shaped for the Saudi’s, whilst Pohang could hardly believe their eyes. But to Ittihad’s credit they rallied, and when Noor stroke to make amends for his earlier ‘error’ in the 74^th-minute, it set up a tense finale. Ittihad continued to press against a tiring Pohang side, but the Korean side just wouldn’t budge.

Australian referee, Mark Breeze, blew for full time and sparked wild celebrations for the Koreans, whilst Ittihad were left to ponder on what might have been. First goal scorer, Byung-jun, was presented with the MVP Award, whilst further icing was added to the cake when they also picked up the Fair Play Award.

It was a truly great win by Pohang and it was a campaign with many different hopes, dreams and inspirations that will ultimately see the club represent Asia at next year’s FIFA Club World Cup. Spare a thought for Al Ittihad, who had an equally impressive showing throughout the tournament and wowed many over Asia and the world. But it’s the Korean’s that will wake up with the preferred sore heads tomorrow morning.

Congrats Pohang Steelers, 2008/9 Asian Champions League Winners!!