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Published: Friday May 22, 2009 MYT 12:08:00 PM

Football: Asian Champions League-Review

SEOUL (AP) - The group stage of the 2009 Asian Champions League highlighted the dominance of Japan's big clubs, a Saudi Arabian resurgence, Chinese disappointment and high and low points in the Asian Football Confederation's quest for professionalism.

The AFC revamped the 2009 edition of its premier continental club competition, increasing the prize money to $15 million, expanding the number of teams to 32 and reducing the number of participating nations in a bid to improve standards.

Of the five nations which started with four participants each - ranked highest in the region according to the size and professional standards of their leagues - Japan and Saudi Arabia have all their clubs safely through, South Korea has three, Iran has one and China and United Arab Emirates none.

Japanese teams have won the last two competitions and are looking good for a hat-trick.

Impressively, Kashima Antlers, Nagoya, defending champion Gamba Osaka and Kawasaki Frontale all booked their places in the last 16 with a game to spare, scoring 53 goals between them.

"All the games are tough in Asia," Gamba defender Satoshi Yamaguchi said, "but Japanese clubs are collecting experience in the challenges of the Asian Champions League and working hard."

Only a last match Kawasaki defeat prevented all four Japanese clubs topping their groups.

Kawasaki will face Gamba in the second round on June 24.

"I was hoping to see all the J-League teams win their group and advance to meet each other in the quarterfinals," Osaka boss Akira Nishino.

"But one of the two can advance to the following stage, and I hope that will be Gamba."

Saudi Arabian clubs are also enjoying a renaissance.

Al Ittihad took the 2004 and 2005 titles and with four teams in the last 16, there is a chance of a West Asian team winning for the first time in four years.

The biggest disappointment is China.

With the national team already out of qualification for the 2010 World Cup, the 2009 Asian Champions League assumed extra meaning with large crowds, big expectations and serious investment.

Only domestic champions Shandong Luneng came close to advancing before throwing it away on a night that was, according to Chinese media, a disaster for football in the Middle Kingdom.

Shandong only needed to avoid defeat at the Indonesian home of Sriwijaya this week to progress.

Sriwijaya had lost all previous five games and Shandong was leading 2-0 at halftime.

Despite that, the Indonesians ran out 4-2 winners, helping FC Seoul into the last 16.

"It was terrible," leading newspaper Titan Sports reported.

"Shandong was lucky not to lose by five, there are no excuses. The coach made some ridiculous decisions."

The paper accused the team of being "selfish," thinking only of domestic league results and not the good of Chinese football.

"Sriwijaya 4-2 Shandong: A result of shame," wrote Sina, China's biggest sports website.

South Korea's media described Seoul's come-from-behind win at Gamba Osaka and the Indonesia result a "miracle."

UAE's Al Ain took the first continental title in 2003 but despite launching a professional league for the first time, none of the Gulf state's four representatives survived.

The most controversial exit was self-imposed.

Sharjah's decision to withdraw from the league was a blow to the AFC's quest for professional standards.

In recent years clubs have left the competition or been ejected for various reasons, but 2009 was supposed to be different.

Sharjah was the first to leave to avoid relegation in its domestic league.

The UAE club lost its first four matches in Group B and so decided to withdraw and concentrate on avoiding relegation from the UAE top division.

"We have decided to pull out at this time due to the problems that we have in our team as we are now threatened by relegation," Sharjah said in a letter to the AFC.

"We hope that the Asian Football Confederation will understand our situation, especially as we do not have any hope left to advance from our group."

The UAE Football Association asked Sharjah to reconsider, concerned about future allocation from the AFC and the image of UAE football.

It will host FIFA's Club World Cup for the first time next year.

An AFC spokesman replied: "We have listened to Sharjah's point of view and we will report our findings to disciplinary and executive committees. They will take decisions which they deem appropriate."

It could have been worse. On matchday two, Korean team Ulsan Horang-I fielded an entirely reserve eleven for a midweek match against Australia's Newcastle Jets which was criticized by the Seoul media.

Newcastle players almost returned the favor by threatening to boycott the return match in Korea after a dispute with the club over bonus payments.

The row was resolved just in time for Newcastle to win in Ulsan and reach the last 16.

If there were high points and low points, attendances have been mixed.

Despite their indifferent performances, Iranian clubs were well-supported, especially Tehran giants Persepolis and Esteghlal.

Persepolis was watched by an average of 54,000.

Uzbekistan and Singapore clubs saw more fans through the gates for the Asian Champions League than for domestic games.

More than 30,000 fans attended Beijing Guoan's first two matches but attendances in Japan, South Korea and Australia - where the A-League is in its off season - were considerably below league averages.

The low points were very low as Qatar and UAE clubs barely managed average crowds of 2,000. - AP


For Another perspective from The Korea Herald, a partner of Asia News Network, click here


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