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| Jorge Fossati, head coach of Qatar’s Al Sadd, celebrates after his team made the final of the AFC Champions League at the expense of Korea’s Suwon Bluewings in Doha yesterday. Al Sadd lost yesterday’s second leg semi-final 1-0 but earned the right to meet another Korean side, Jeonbuk, in the final thanks to their 2-0 away win over Suwon in the first leg last week |
Al Sadd became the first Qatari club to reach the AFC Champions League final after seeing off the challenge of Korea’s Suwon Bluewings. Jorge Fossati’s men, who had won 2-0 in Suwon last week, restricted the Koreans’ win to 1-0 margin in the second leg of the semi-final at the Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad Stadium yesterday to progress 2-1 on aggregate.
Oh Jang-eun raised the Korean hopes, firing Suwon ahead in the seventh minute, but the Al Sadd defence, reinforced by the return of captain Abdullah Koni, held their nerves against Suwon’s frantic onslaught to coast the team home.
The Qatari side will meet another Korean side Jeonbuk Motors in the final to be held in Jeonju, Korea on Nov 12. Jeonbuk beat Saudi Arabia’s Al Ittihad 2-1 yesterday to advance 5-3 on aggregate.
Al Sadd tried to impose themselves on the visitors with Naser Nabeel and Talal al-Bloushi showing some good coordination on the right. But Suwon did not take too long to settle in and soon looked the better side.
With Suwon attackers frequently surging into the Al Sadd area it was only matter of time they scored. And it came in the seventh minute off a corner.
Suwon captain Yeom Ki-hun’s corner was headed away by Nadir Belhadj but the ball went only as far as the edge of the area to a perfectly positioned Oh. And the midfielder, who had blasted his earlier attempt over the bar a couple of minutes before, controlled the ball with the chest and made no mistake this time, firing a left-footed volley past a diving Al Sadd goalkeeper Mohammed Saqr to put Suwon 1-0 up.
Al Sadd, playing without Abdul Kader Keita and Mamadou Niang, looked distinctly one-dimensional going forward, with only Khalfan Ibrahim lifting them out of the ordinary.
But the Qatari international was closely marked and subject to frequent physical challenges from the Koreans.
After a couple of tough Korean challenges went unpunished, goalscorer Oh became the first Suwon player to be booked by Emirati referee Ali Hamad al-Badwawi after he pulled down Belhadj in the 26th minute.
The Algerian defender picked himself up to curl the resultant free-kick which was palmed away by goalkeeper Jung Sung-ryong.
Al Sadd, urged on by an expectant home crowd, pushed hard and went close to finding an equaliser in the 34th minute. Nabeel touched off a corner from Belhadj on the path of Khalfan on the edge of the area. But Khalfan was unlucky as his rasping drive crashed against the far post after goalkeeper Jung got his hand to it.
Khalfan, desperately trying to inspire Al Sadd, then whipped in a fine cross into the area in the 39th minute after dribbling past a couple of defenders on the touchline. But the chance went begging due to lack of support.
As half time approached, Suwon pressed hard for a second goal but some stout defending from Al Sadd prevented the visitors from making more damage.
Al Sadd returned with more purpose at the restart but failed to break the Suwon shackles. But Suwon soon picked up their tempo and almost got a goal they craved shortly before the hour mark but Croat Mato Neretliak missed a clear header from close range.
They wasted another opportunity in the 60th minute when Yeom whipped in a free-kick into the box. But Park Hyun-beom was slow to react inside the box and goalkeeper Saqr quickly grabbed the loose ball.
Al Sadd’s defence continued to frustrate Suwon as Lee Jung-soo came up good against his formal Suwon teammate Ha Tae-gyun, cutting short the forward’s surging run inside the box with a perfectly timed tackle in the 65th minute.
With more Suwon men camping inside the Al Sadd half, the hosts had a brilliant chance on a break in the 70th minute. But Khalfan, after making much of the run, fired his shot straight into goalkeeper Jung.
As Khalfan came under attack from more rough challenges, Choi Sung-hwan received a yellow card in the 80th minute.
With the play entering the final 10 minutes, Suwon searched desperately for another goal to force the match into extra time. But the Al Sadd defenders held firm, clearing away everything that was thrown at them.