Sports

Friday September 25, 2009

Scolari’s men beat Pohang in AFC Champions League

TOKYO: Kawasaki Frontale battled back from a goal down to beat fellow J-League side Nagoya Grampus 2-1 in the first-leg of the AFC Champions League quarter-finals here on Wed­nes­day.

Lanky Australian striker Joshua Kennedy headed home in the 27th minute for Nagoya but Japan midfielder Kengo Nakamura pulled one back for Kawasaki on the hour mark and Brazilian striker Juninho put them ahead three minutes later.

Kawasaki, who have not lost to Nagoya in their recent nine encounters, go to Nagoya in the return leg on Wednesday to vie for a semi-final berth in the top Asian club competition.

Going for it: Kawasaki’s forward Juninho and Nagoya’s Shohei Abe fighting for the ball during their quarter-final match of the AFC Champions League at the National Stadium in Tokyo on Wednesday. — AP

“We had a few chances but could not put them away in the first-half,” Kawasaki coach Takashi Sekizuka said.

“Kengo’s goal shook the kinks out of our play and helped us regain our usual rhythm.

“But we are only halfway through.”

Nagoya’s Serbian coach Dragan Stojkovic predicted an exciting return leg.

“We must play hard and aggressively against the fast-moving Kawasaki players,” he said. “I really think it will be as interesting as today’s match.”

In other quarter-final matches, Umm Salal of Qatar beat South Korea’s FC Seoul 3-2 and Uzbek side Bunyodkor defeated another South Korean club, Pohang Steelers, 3-1.

Bunyodkor, now managed by former Brazil and Chelsea coach Luiz Felipe Scolari, fell behind due to No Byung-jun’s eighth minute opener.

But Scolari then watched as reigning AFC Player of the Year Server Djeparov turned in two Jasur Hasanov crosses inside the final 11 minutes at JAR Stadium after Victor Karpenko had pulled the home side level before half-time.

Scolari’s side were helped when Pohang lost defender Kim Hyung-il to a red card just after the hour mark.

The Brazil 2002 World Cup winning boss said: “It was a very important game to win.

“There were moments in the match when they the better side and sometimes when Bunyodkor were the better side, we both played beautiful football.

“We now hope that we will go through but the result is not 3-1, the result will not be decided until the last minute in Pohang. I said before the game we would change our history but this is only the first game – it will change after the second game. It will be a different game in Pohang and we need to score in Korea.” — AFP

  • E-mail this story
  • Print this story

Sports Poll