Asian Debate: Are Al Ittihad And Pohang Steelers Already In the Asian Champions League Final?

When Al Ittihad flew to Japan at the end of last week for the second leg of their Asian Champions League semi-final against Nagoya Grampus, the suitcases checked in at the airport in Saudi Arabia were a little bulkier than you would expect for a normal one-off match.

Football players usually travel light. But with a 6-2 advantage from the first leg last week and with the final taking place in Tokyo ten days after the match in Nagoya, it is hard to blame the Jeddah giants for packing with a long stay in mind.

That doesn’t mean that the Tigers are taking things for granted. Perhaps more than any club in recent Asian history, Al Ittihad know that the knockout stage of the Asian Champions League can be a capricious beast.


Back in 2006, with the Saudis going for a third straight title, a quarter-final against Al Karama of Syria gave the impression of providing a comfortable route to the next round.

A 2-0 win in Jeddah confirmed that thought but the 4-0 loss at Karama’s home fortress of Homs shocked not only the visitors but the whole of Asian football.

That was Ittihad’s last loss in the knockout stage of the continental competition and it was as big of a shock as their win in 2004.

It is a story that doesn’t need telling again in too much detail but in the first leg of the final, South Korea’s Seongnam Chunma travelled to Jeddah to win 3-1.

The tie was over as far as almost everyone was concerned but not for Al Ittihad. The club travelled east to win 5-0 in the second leg – one of the greatest turnarounds in Asian football history.


Mohammed Noor remembers that game well. He scored twice on a freezing night just south of Seoul. The midfielder scored three last week and will be keen to ensure that the hard work from the first leg is not thrown away.

Pohang Steelers will feel the same.The Koreans weren’t quite as smooth in the first leg 2-0 win against Umm Salal as they have been in recent rounds – namely a last 16 six-goal thrashing of Newcastle Jets and a thrilling 4-1 second leg win against Luiz Felipe Scolari’s Bunyodkor.


At this stage of the competition, and the East Asian season as a whole, results are all-important – good performances are a bonus.

A long season is coming to an end for Pohang. The match at Umm Salal in Qatar will be the club’s 48th of the season and there is still a vital K-League match against defending champions Suwon Bluewings on Sunday.

All thoughts are on the continental competition at the moment however. A full-strength team, none of whom played in last weekend’s K-League win at Gwangju, will take the pitch in Qatar.

Pohang have had a knack in this tournament this season of getting the results they need. A last-match win at Kawasaki Frontale in the group stage gave them a home second round tie against Newcastle, and the second leg win against Bunyodkor wasn’t a surprise.

The Steelers will also fancy their chances of getting an away goal on Wednesday and such a strike would almost certainly end the tie as a contest.

But Umm Salal can cling to their first leg comeback in the quarter-final. Then at home to another Korean team, FC Seoul, the hosts came back from a half-time 2-0 deficit to win 3-2. A 1-1 draw in the eastern capital saw the team through.


There may be some life left yet in these last four battles but both Pohang and Al Ittihad will be kicking themselves if they aren’t in Tokyo on the first Saturday in November.

John Duerden

Asia Editor

john.duerden@goal.com