JEDDAH: A super fit Al-Ittihad squad is headed to the final of the AFC Champions League after beating Japan’s Nagoya Grampus 2-1 in the semifinals in Nagoya, Japan on Wednesday.
The two-time champion Jeddah-based Ittihad will face Pohang Steelers in the Nov. 7 final in Tokyo. The Steelers scored a 2-1 win over Qatar’s Umm Salal in the semifinal second leg in Doha that gave the South Korean team a 4-1 aggregate win on Wednesday. After a goalless first half, striker Stevo put Pohang ahead in the 55th minute and four minutes later No Byung-Jun made it 2-0. Ibrahima Nadiya hit a consolation goal for the Qatari minnows in injury time.
The Saudi heavyweights, who won the tournament in 2004 and 2005, built on their emphatic 6-2 first leg victory for an 8-3 aggregate victory with Saleh Al-Saqri and Amine Chermiti finding the target.
“We won both home and away games against a strong Japanese team,” said Ittihad’s Argentine coach Gabriel Calderon.
“We proved that we deserve to reach the final. It was a game that exactly went as we had planned and my players were ready to do it. Now, we will go and try to win the championship, of course,” he added.
Knowing they needed at least four goals to go through, Nagoya started the game with three forwards, including Australian international Josh Kennedy and Keiji Tamada.
They held the initiative early on with Kennedy’s header in the 33rd minute hitting the bar, while Tamada had a chance soon after.
But the Saudis soon got in the game and took the lead when Nagoya goalkeeper Toru Hasegawa failed to collect a shot and defender Al-Saqri pounced on the loose ball to fire a close-range goal three minutes before halftime.
They doubled their lead on 59 minutes when skipper Mohammed Noor, who scored a hat-trick in the first leg, sent a pin-point pass through to Chermiti who comfortably headed home.
Despite facing an impossible task, Nagoya didn’t give up and their efforts finally paid dividends when substitute Keita Sugimoto unleashed a spectacular overhead shot, which flashed past Saudi goalkeeper Mobrouk Zayed.
That completed the scoring, leaving the home crowd disappointed and Ittihad looking forward to yet another final.
Nagoya’s Serbian coach Dragan Stojkovic admitted the best side won. “Unfortunately we lost but in football you have to create a chance to score. We didn’t score enough, we didn’t take our chances, and after the mistakes, we lost the game,” he said.
All eyes on Pellegrini after Real’s Cup humiliation
In Madrid, Manuel Pellegrini’s future as Real Madrid coach was called into question on Wednesday after the big-spending side’s 4-0 thrashing at third-tier Alcorcon in the first leg of their King’s Cup tie.
The Segunda B side, from a satellite town to the south of Madrid, tore apart their near neighbors and could have won by a larger margin as they condemned the nine-times European champions to a third defeat in five outings on Tuesday.
“Go now!” sports daily Marca blared on Wednesday’s front page, alongside a photograph of a shattered-looking Pellegrini.
Madrid-based AS led with “Ridicule of the century” while Barcelona-based Sport wrote: “This is the beginning of the end for Pellegrini.”
After the game, Real’s Chilean coach brushed away questions over whether he would consider resigning and club director general Jorge Valdano said it was important everyone stood together.
Team captain Raul echoed Valdano’s calls.
“We win and we lose together so absolutely everyone is to blame,” the striker told reporters. “The display we put on isn’t the one the club deserves, or one that sits well with our history. We ask for forgiveness and remind people the tie isn’t over yet. “If there is a club that knows about comebacks it is Real Madrid.”
Daily El Mundo spread the blame beyond Pellegrini and questioned the motivation of Real’s players saying: “None of them were able to replicate the exceptional work of Alcorcon: the commitment, the pressuring, the pace and the goals.
“Alcorcon showed all the properties a fan would want to see in their team.” The return leg is at the Bernabeu in two weeks and Alcorcon coach Juan Antonio Anquela — who was being dubbed ‘Anqueloti’ in the media — fought to keep the result in perspective while fans celebrated on the pitch outside. “We haven’t achieved anything yet. Real are capable of putting five past anyone,” he told reporters.
— With input from agencies
