Al Sadd coach Hussein Ammouta (C) talks to journalists about his team’s prospects in the knockout phase of the Asian Champions League.
By Sports Reporter/Doha
Al Sadd are in an upbeat mood ahead of their AFC Champions League Round of 16 clash against Iranian champions Foolad Kouzestan despite making the knockouts in unconvincing fashion. The match will be played at the Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Stadium at 7pm today.
The 2011 champions are savouring their second chance after a dramatic win over Al Ahli of the United Arab Emirates in their final match of the Group Stage saw them progress to the two-leg pre-quarters of the lucrative tournament.
Having lifted the AFC Champions League trophy on their last appearance in the tournament in 2011, Al Sadd made a decent start in Group D with five points from their first three games but they then suffered their heaviest ever defeats in the competition, going down 5-0 to Al Hilal in Saudi Arabia and 4-0 to Sepahan in Iran. It left them needing a win from their final game against Al Ahli to progress but things did not look good when Grafite fired the UAE side ahead after 15 minutes in Doha.
However, the Qatari side recovered with Khalfan Ibrahim equalising late in the first half before Brazilian forward Rodrigo Tabata fired home the winning goal with 11 minutes left to secure a 2-1 win. So despite conceding 14 goals in six games and finishing with an ugly goal difference of minus-six, Al Sadd finished in second place in Group D, one point behind group winners Al Hilal and one in front of Al Ahli and Sepahan.
“The past is behind us, we need to look ahead at the opportunities we have,” Al Sadd coach Hussein Ammouta told journalists at the pre-match press conference.
“We have had an indifferent season by our standards but in football you have to keep on hoping as anything can happen,” the Moroccan added.
While Al Sadd have appeared in eight previous editions of the AFC Champions League, their Round of 16 opponents have far less experience in the competition. Foolad only took part in the competition on one previous occasion in 2006 when they finished bottom of their group after losing four games. However, their second appearance has gone much better with the newly-crowned Iranian champions going unbeaten in Group D with four wins and two draws. They secured first place with a 3-1 home win over Qatari side El Jaish in their penultimate game but there was no sign of any let-up in their final game as they travelled to Saudi Arabia and claimed their first-ever away win in the competition with a 5-1 demolition of Al Fateh. Al Sadd may be the more experienced side but Foolad are definitely the team in form heading into what promised to be an intriguing last 16 match.
Guangzhou hit title form
Meanwhile, title-holders Guangzhou Evergrande destroyed Diego Forlan’s Cerezo Osaka 5-1 as they moved towards their third straight quarter-finals in ominous style.
A quickfire double from Elkeson, a stylish brace from fellow Brazilian Muriqui and a lone effort from Gao Lin meant Marcello Lippi’s team will have an easy task in next week’s home leg.
Guangzhou had not previously won away in this year’s competition and they were in danger of crashing out in the group stages before coming through in their final pool game.
But China’s very first AFC Champions League-winners roared back to title form as they took apart Cerezo, spearheaded by Uruguay star Forlan, in front of their own fans in Osaka.
Guangzhou had the best of the early exchanges and there was an air of inevitability as Italy international Alessandro Diamanti and Muriqui combined for the opener on 22 minutes.
Receiving the ball from Asian player of the year Zheng Zhi, Muriqui played a one-two with Diamanti, whose sliding return pass put last year’s top-scorer through on goal for his first of the tournament.
Cerezo were quick to respond. After breaking on the right, Forlan crossed and Ariajasuru Hasegawa squeezed an accurate first-time shot just inside the far post on the half-hour.
But two Elkeson goals in the space of four minutes turned the tie firmly in Guangzhou’s favour, starting from Yuta Someya’s needless foul on the Brazilian in the penalty area.
From the spot, Elkeson sent goalkeeper Kim Jin-Hyeon the wrong way, and Cerezo also made it easy for Guangzhou on 37 minutes when the striker rose unchallenged to nod home Diamanti’s curling free-kick.
Cerezo failed to hit back after half-time and with 12 minutes left, Chinese forward Gao Lin—brought on as a substitute for Elkeson—made it 4-1 when he put a shot between the goalkeeper’s legs.
The quick-thinking Muriqui deepened Cerezo’s plight when, leaping for a high ball, he used his shoulder to bounce it into the net, crashing into the post in the process and leaving the field. Guangzhou have reached the quarter-finals in both their previous appearances and Cerezo will have to pull off one of the event’s great turnarounds to deny the Chinese league-leaders this year.
Earlier, Pohang Steelers came from behind to grab a precious 2-1 win against fellow former winners Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors in the first leg of their all-Korean clash.
The visitors fell behind to Lee Jae-Sung’s header shortly after the break but they were quickly back on terms through Son Jun-Ho, before Go Moo-Yul fired the winner 16 minutes from time. The victory gives Pohang, the 2009 winners, the advantage ahead of next week’s return against Jeonbuk, who lifted the trophy in 2006 and again reached the final in 2011.
