Asian Comment: Pohang Steelers And Al Ittihad Will Make A Fitting Final

It should be a fitting Asian Champions League final between Al Ittihad and Pohang Steelers.

The two teams have been the best performers in the knockout stage and there is always something to be said for an East versus West match-up in the final of the continental competition.

There have been some classics contests between teams from the opposite ends of the continent down the years and this one promises to be as exciting as any.

Both teams have scored an impressive 15 goals each in five knockout games. Such a statistic may not guarantee goals in the final but Pohang and Ittihad have a number of players in good goalscoring form.

Ittihad will go into the match unbeaten in the competition so far and as favourites to lift the trophy for a record third time.


The Tigers looked fierce when swatting aside Nagoya Grampus in the semi-final. Granted, the two games would probably have been very different if Akira Takeuchi had not been sent off early in the first leg in Jeddah.

The Japanese team battled well and were drawing 2-2 with 15 minutes remaining. Then, tiredness and clinical finishing caught up with them and it finished 6-2 Mohammed Noor was the star of that show and was impressive again in Japan on Wednesday evening.

The captain had a big hand in both goals as the Saudis won 2-1, was busy in defence and added composure everywhere he went. Noor looks to be a man desperate to make up for a non-appearance at the 2010 World Cup.

As far as Asia goes, the next best thing is the FIFA Club World Cup and he is 90 minutes away from that.

Amine Chermiti’s form could see him in action in South Africa, assuming Tunisia get the result they need in Mozambique next month.

The 21 year-old scored eight goals in the African Champions League and has scored three times in four matches in Asia. The last of those came in Nagoya; thanks to a well-taken header that gave the visitors an unassailable six goal advantage.


With Rehda Tukar rolling back the years in defence, Al Ittihad will approach the final full of confidence and fully rested. The team is already in Japan and will stay there for the next ten days.

Pohang, also searching for a third triumph in Asia, have to return to Korea for a vital K-league match this weekend. Failure to win this weekend at home to champions Suwon Bluewings could cost the team a place in next season’s continental competition.

Exactly what team to field, against a Suwon team already thinking of the FA Cup final, is something that will occupy the thoughts of coach Sergio Farias on the long journey east on Thursday.

These are worries that any coach would welcome and overall, the 42 year-old will be happy after watching his team win 2-1 in Qatar to take the tie 4-1 in aggregate.

His team wasn’t as fluent against Umm Salal in both legs as they had been in the quarter-final against Bunyodkor and the second round thrashing of Australia’s Newcastle Jets but it was a powerful performance,


Much of the perceived threat from the Qatar team came from their expensively-assembled Brazilian forward line of Magno Alves and Davi.

The Pohang defence with the impressive duo, Hwang Jae-won and Kim Hyung-il at the heart, gave the South American strikeforce barely a sniff of goal over 180 minutes of play.

At the other end, Pohang managed to create some chances and then managed to put four of them away over the two legs.

It was a job well done from both teams who followed up impressive first leg wins with hard-fought away wins in the second leg.

For that alone, Al Ittihad and Pohang Steelers deserve to be in the final and all Asian fans will be hoping that they do the continent proud.

John Duerden

Asia Editor

john.duerden@goal.com