Print

Mail

wiki links

Luiz Felipe Scolari’s AFC Champions League dream ends

Former Chelsea boss Luiz Felipe Scolari failed in his bid to steer Uzbek club Bunyodkor into the semi-finals of the AFC Champions League on Wednesday.

Bunyodkor came into the match against Korean Cup holders Pohang Steelers with a 3-1 first leg advantage, but the money-rich club were outplayed.

They were down 3-0 after a Kim Jae-sung strike and Denilson brace and staring at defeat when Victor Karpenko hauled them out of trouble with a 90th minute goal to level the aggregate score and take the match to extra-time.

But with Bunyodkor’s star player Rivaldo looking every one of his 37 years, the Koreans deservedly booked their place in the last four when Stevica Ristic rose above two defenders to head in the decider after 102 minutes.

It gave them a 4-1 home victory on the night and a 5-4 aggregate win.

The defeat will be hugely disappointing for Brazil’s Scolari, who was enticed to Tashkent in June and after being fired by Chelsea and is now reportedly the highest paid coach in the world.

Pohang’s reward is a semi-final against Qatar’s Umm Salal, who beat FC Seoul 4-3 on aggregate to deny an all-Korean semi.

The Qataris took a 3-2 first leg lead to Seoul and when Aziz Ben Askar scored for the visitors on 14 minutes they looked comfortable.

Dejan Damjanovic pulled one back for Seoul two minutes later but that was as far as they got with the match ending 1-1.

Japan’s Nagoya Grampus joined Pohang and Umm Salal in the last four after towering Australian striker Josh Kennedy pounced with three minutes left to give his side a 3-1 victory over fellow J-Leaguers Kawasaki Frontale.

Nagoya, trailing with a 2-1 away deficit from the first leg, levelled the aggregate when Yoshizumi Ogawa dribbled through midfield on a break and slammed in a 20m right-footer on 26 minutes.

Defender Maya Yoshida put the homeside ahead on 34 minutes by heading in a long free kick by Brazilian Allesandro dos Santos.

But Kawaski pulled one back on the break three minutes later as North Korean striker Chong Tese picked up a through ball from Renatinho and beat a Nagoya defender to ruffle the net past goalkeeper Koichi Hirono.

Kennedy, who moved from Germany’s Karlsruhe in June, put the game beyond Kawasaki in the dying minutes, slotting in a rebound off Brazilian Magnum’s shot.

They will face two-time champions Al Ittihad of Saudi Arabia who defeated Uzbekistan’s Pakhtakor 4-0 in Riyadh for a 5-1 aggregate victory.
This story has been viewed 510 times.