JEDDAH, 11 August — South Korea’s Samsung proved more resilient in defense as a 10-strong squad held off a determined Al-Shabab fightback to wrest the Asian Super Cup with a 2-1 victory in the second leg here yesterday.
The first leg in Korea had seen the teams level at 2-2 and with the win yesterday the Koreans ran out 4-3 winners on aggregate. Samsung, with this win, has qualified for the World Cup for Teams in Spain.
At the Prince Abdullah Al Faisal Stadium here, the Koreans were reduced to ten men with Kim Jo getting his marching orders for a tough tackle on a Shabab player in the 70th minute. They held a 2-1 lead. But despite Shabab making a game bid to stay in the match, the Koreans held on to their slim advantage to seal their name on the seventh edition of the Super Cup.
The earlier six winners, in the matchup of the Asian Cup Winners Cup and League winners, from 1995 include Yokohama (Japan), Ilwa Tchonma (Korea), Al Hilal (Saudi Arabia), Al Nasr (Saudi Arabia), Iwata (Japan) and Al Hilal again in 2000.
The first half saw the teams trying to get the measure of each other, thus reducing the early part of the half to position play. With the teams rarely probing incisively, action came from individual flair or from sudden bursts from the wings.
After a protracted midfield struggle, which saw neither teams gaining the upperhand in the half, the second half came alive with the Saudi club going ahead two minutes after the interval.
Abdullah Al Waked, who plays for the national squad, rose above the Samsung defense to nod home a Subaie Fahd set piece. But no sooner had the cheers died down, the Koreans were again on level terms from the kick-off with Le Yang striking true to crown a concerted effort down the middle. And Shabab’s hopes of making a match of it went with Si Song sinking in a long range shot in the 57th minute. Though Shabab tried hard to stage a comeback, it was not to be their day as the Samsung defense held.
Al Nasr recruit Nunez as coach
Meanwhile, Former Uruguay national coach Hector Nunez signed a one-year contract to coach Saudi Arabian club Al Nasr yesterday. The 57-year-old, whose coaching career has spanned four continents, said in London he was looking forward to the new challenge and hoped to develop Arabian football to a world class standard.
“I think that they are technically very good but they have to accustom themselves to first class football,” he told Reuters. “I want to collaborate with Arabian football because they are now growing very fast,” the Spaniard added.
“I hope to celebrate one title in 12 months time,” he said, though declined to specify which trophy he would prefer. Al Nasr, one of Saudi’s leading clubs, won the Asian Cup Winner’s Cup in 1998.
Nunez played for Valencia in the 1960s, winning the UEFA league title with them twice.
