adelaide eye champs pohang

... adelaide united will look to put a disappointing a-league season behind them when they kick off their afc champions league campaign against defending champions pohang steelers tonight ... the reds recently finished bottom of their domestic league and will be keen to wipe the slate clean on the continental stage as they look to better their runners-up finish in 2008 ... "pohang's champions league winning coach sergio farias has since departed to take the reigns of saudi side al ahli

pakhtakor edge past former champs

... pakhtakor secured a 1-0 win over uae's al ain at the khalifa stadium in their opening afc champions league group c game

champs pohang stumble in adelaide

... defending champions pohang steelers stumbled to an opening 1-0 defeat in defence of their afc champions league title on wednesday on a disappointing night for teams from korea republic ... adelaide, who lost to japan's gamba osaka in the 2008 final, finished at the bottom of this season's a-league but they showed plenty of spirit against pohang in a niggly group h match of 38 fouls ... despite holding the k-league side on their own ground, gamba will feel that they did enough to take all three points as it was the japanese team who created the better openings ... in hiroshima, sanfrecce's afc champions league debut ended in disappointment with a second-half strike by han peng enough for china's shandong luneng to seal a 1-0 victory ... chinese super league underdogs henan jianye, meanwhile, drew 0-0 at home against singapore armed forces on their competition debut in a tough group that will also see them face suwon and gamba ... in the group's other game on wednesday, iran's champions league newcomers mes kerman - who are battling against relegation domestically - convincingly beat al ahli of the united arab emirates 4-2 with the iranian side's midfielder mahdi rajabzadeh scoring two

adelaide united defeat pohang steelers 1-0 in asian champions league

... adelaide united made an auspicious start to their 2010 afc champions league campaign after seeing off defending champions pohang steelers 1-0 at hindmarsh stadium ... despite finishing bottom of the a-league this season, united surprisingly fended off one of the tournament favourites ... stand-in adelaide united coach joe mullen pinpointed leckie's aggressive play up front as the vital ingredient in his side's surprising turnaround from their poor a-league season ... " mullen, adelaide's youth team coach, is standing in for regular coach aurelio vidmar during the afc champions league run while vidmar completes his elite coaching courses to be eligible to be head coach in the competition

bright start for bunyodkor

... bunyodkor's brazilian connection proved too much for saudi powerhouse al ittihad in a 3-0 defeat in the afc champions league on tuesday, while there were mixed fortunes for japanese teams ... the rich uzbek club, with former chelsea boss luiz felipe scolari in charge, tempted striker denilson away from defending champions pohang steelers in the off-season and he got himself on the scoreboard in the 66th minute ... former colombia international mauricio molina put the seven-time k-league champions ahead in the first half and created the second goal late in the game for montenegrin dzenan radoncic ... i am so happy to win our opening match at home and get our 2010 afc champions league campaign off to a good start," said coach shin tae-young ... chinese champions beijing guoan edged pastâ australian champions melbourne victory 1-0 at home with the goal scored by soccerooâ striker joel griffiths ... in other games, united arab emirates' al jazira went down 2-1 at home to qatar's al gharafa while iran's esteghlal won 2-1 at saudi side al ahli and champions league newcomers zobahan of iran beat al wahda of uae thanks to a 60th-minute goal from brazilian striker igor

afc warns of stiff penalties to clubs that withdraw from tournaments

... afc on monday sent a stern warning to clubs competing in the 2010 afc champions league on the issue of withdrawal from the competition ... and afc is determined to prevent a repeat by imposing stiff penalties ... during a presentation on tournament regulations to clubs on monday, afc competitions department representative benjamin tan, outlined the measures afc could take against clubs withdrawing mid-competition ... “clubs could be disqualified from taking part in the next two editions of the competition from which it withdrew and of all other afc competitions it may quality to play,” tan said in the presentation ... the afc is determined to ensure that clubs take the tournament and the brand name seriously and maintain professionalism throughout ... clubs withdrawing may also face further sanction from the afc executive committee depending on the gravity of the situation and/or damages ... it may also affect the number of slots awarded to the member association given by the afc competitions committee ... in addition, the errant club would be liable for compensation, to afc and to sponsors who are affected by their withdrawal ... further financial punishment may come from the afc disciplinary committee

osaka beat nagoya 4-1 to win emperor´s cup

... tokyo (afp) - japan international midfielder yasuhito endo scored twice and set up another to lead defending champions gamba osaka to a 4-1 victory over nagoya grampus in the emperor's cup final on friday ... "osaka coach akira nishino noted that "for nagoya, it was their last chance to qualify for the afc champions league, so they played aggressively in the second half ... "osaka had already qualified for the afc champions league by finishing third in the j-league competition

nagoya face gamba in emperor cup final

... the tournament is particularly important to nagoya, who need a win in the final in order to secure a spot in next year's afc champions league

iran: ali daei confirmed as persepolis coach and targets asian success

... former iran national team coach and all-round legend ali daei has taken over as head coach of persepolis and immediately targeted a place in the 2011 asian champions league ... persepolis are in third place in the iranian league but are ten points behind leaders sepahan ... my goal is to qualify for the asian champions league” daei told reporters in tehran ... ” daei has experience led saipa to a surprise iran league crown and to the knockout stage of the afc champions league in his first coaching assignment before taking over the reins of iran national team in early 2008

afc: a-league's wellington phoenix can play in the asian cl until 2011

... new zealand’s a-league team wellington phoenix will be eligible to participate in the afc champions league, should they qualify, until the end of 2011 ... the afc has confirmed that the phoenix, the only new zealand team in the a-league, will be given this dispensation in line with fifa’s approval even though the club do not fulfil acl criteria ... in a letter to ffa, the afc said from 2012, if wellington phoenix fc participate in the a-league under the same conditions (as they are doing now), ffa would fail to meet the criteria and will lose the right to participate in the acl 2012 ... the decision came during the afc professional league ad hoc committee meeting held on october 30, 2009 ... furthermore, the afc said the ffa can continue to participate in the acl from 2012 under the following conditions ... otherwise, wellington phoenix fc should belong to the second division of the a-league, which should be newly created by the ffa ... after 18 matches, wellington are eighth in the a-league with 21 points, 13 behind leaders melbourne victory