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FIFA - Late strikes, own goals and red cards
featured prominently in a tense but action-packed first leg of quarter-final
matches on Wednesday. Once the dust had settled in Asia, Korea Republic's
Busan l'Park, 3-0 winners at home to Al Sadd, and Iran's Pas, a 1-1 draw in
Al Ain, appeared to have the upper hand, while in the Saudi Arabia-China
double bill, the teams from the west - Al Ittihad with a 1-1 draw in
Shandong and Al Ahli 2-1 winners over Shenzhen - rode away with the happier
endings after the first episode.
The late late show actually arrived the earliest. Busan l'Park, bossed by
Ian Porterfield, had dominated their match in Korea against Bora
Milutinovic's Al Sadd but with two minutes left on the clock they only had a
20th-minute Da Silva goal to show for it. The Brazilian striker popped up
again to score his and Busan's second, and barely a minute later the Qataris,
who were reduced to ten men in the 81st minute after Ali Nasser had received
a second yellow card, watched in horror as defender Yoon Hee-jun added a
third for a resounding victory.
"Of course 1-0 would have been a good result for Al Sadd but we continued to
work and got the two goals at the end," said Porterfield after the match.
"I'm delighted for the players. They showed tremendous commitment and
deserved the result."
Milutinovic, a veteran of five FIFA World Cup™ campaigns - each time with a
different nation, recognised that the dismissal of young midfielder Nasser
had been fundamental.
"That sort of thing happens for a young player without much experience,"
said the wily coach before dismissing the subject. "Tonight's game was okay
for 87 minutes. But it is over now and we must look to make one more big
effort when we play in Doha… anything can happen in football."
Seeing red
Slightly less philosophical about a sending off was Al Ain's coach Milan
Macala. After seeing his side fall behind to a goal by Harash Borhani while
being outshone in the Emirati by Pas, the Croat's side were gifted a goal
just before half-time when Mohammad Nosrati swung his boot at Subait
Khater's cross and sent the ball flying hard and fast into his own net.
Then, on the hour, when goalkeeper Hassan Roudbarian was sent off for
handling Nwoha Onyekachi's goal-bound lob outside his area. Unlike Busan
though, the 2003 AFC champions could not make their greater numbers count.
"It is very, very difficult (playing against 10 men). I have played many,
many games like this and you have to be careful because if they
counterattack it's over," said the talkative Macala. "We play and we play
but time is running out and we get more and more nervous, and because of
this we lose more and more concentration."
Pas' Turkish coach Mustafa Denizli was happy with this side's performance:
"Sometimes they were lucky, sometimes clever but if you earn a scoring draw
in the first leg with a goal, it is an advantage for the second game."
Not quite as dramatic an own goal, perhaps, but just as unfortunate was
skipper Yang Chen's 87th-minute flicked header that gave Al Ahli a slim 2-1
win over Chinese champions Shenzhen in Jeddah. Luck had not really been on
their side up to that late point as the Saudis had wasted a succession of
gilt-edged opportunities before Brazilian Rogerio struck his fifth goal of
the competition just after the hour mark.
Thirteen minutes later Naif Al Qadi headed a Hussain Sulaimana free kick
into his own net to equalise, sparking scenes of joy on Guo Ruilong's bench
before fate played its final hand to set up an intriguing second leg further
east.
Shandong, like their Super League rivals, found the going equally as tough
against opposition from Saudi Arabia. Al Ittihad not only arrived in Jinan
as champions but with two high-profile signings in their ranks. Cameroonian
Joseph-Desire Job was more of a periphery figure in his first competitive
start but Sierra Leone's Mohamed Kallon was in the thick of the action.
It was, however, local legend and captain Mohammed Noor who gave the holders
the advantage on 48 minutes. Shandong, slightly intimidated at first,
equalised five minutes later through their own skipper Li Xiaopeng's
exquisite free kick. Kallon should have given the champions the advantage
late on but the African may well be waiting for his chance back in Jeddah in
a week's time.
Results
Al Ain 1-1 Pas
Shandong Luneng 1-1 Al Ittihad
Al Ahli 2-1 Shenzhen Jianlibao
Busan l'Park 3-0 Al Sadd
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