ACL Comment: Can Anyone In Asia Stop Bunyodkor And Luiz Felipe Scolari?

The relief of Pohang Steelers fans in finally seeing their team start their defence of the Asian Champions League with a win over Sanfrecce Hiroshima on Wednesday evening in South Korea may have been made a little sweeter due to the news from the west.

Sergio Farias, the man who led them to the title before swiftly leaving for Al Ahli, has now lost his first two games in charge of the Saudi club in the same competition.

But as the Steelers struggled to a 2-1 victory over the Japanese debutants, it was certainly noticed that former striker Denilson got both goals for Bunyodkor as they defeated Al Wahda 2-1 to collect six points from their opening two matches.

Denilson is that kind of player. The Brazilian was the tournament top scorer in 2009 before being, like Farias, tempted west by a hefty salary. He was bought for his game-changing abilities and Pohang are already showing signs of missing such qualities.

But he gave good service to the South Korean club. When he left in December, the well-travelled striker didn’t go quite as far as his former boss, ending up in Central Asia. His seven goals in the competition and performance in the 2009 quarter-final as Pohang eliminated Luiz Felipe Scolari’s men had the former Brazil coach, or his transfer guru Rivaldo if you prefer, believing that Denilson was the missing piece in the jigsaw.

The Uzbek team dominated domestically to the extent that it just wasn’t funny in 2009, leaving Asia as the be-all and end-all this time round. If signing the likes of Rivaldo and the majority of the Uzbekistan national team wasn’t enough to win the continental prize then a man who has a proven goalscoring record in it, as well as also finishing as the top scorer of the 2009 FIFA Club World Cup, was necessary.

His two goals at Al Wahda showed why Bunyodkor wanted him. Neither strike was anything like the spectacular stuff he is capable of – a simple header and a simple tap-in – but it was enough to reinforce Bunyodkor’s belief that this could be their year. That feeling was already strong following an impressive 3-0 win over 2009 runners-up Al Ittihad.

That the Central Asians are heading for the knockout stage is not the question. What fans around Asia are thinking at the moment, just who will be able to stop this team that is full of internationals, led by a former World Cup winning coach and has only Asia on its mind?

At the moment Saudi Arabia's Al Hilal are looking the most likely. Some thought Kawasaki Frontale of Japan could also be in line for a genuine attempt.

The Kanagawa club crashed out at the quarter-final stage last season and with the recruitment of Junichi Inamoto, hopes were high of going further this time. Two straight defeats however have put the J-League runners-up in serious of falling at the first hurdle.

The away loss at Seongnam Ilhwa was followed by a shock 3-1 defeat at home at the hands of Beijing Guoan. Next, the Japanese club take on fellow strugglers Melbourne Victory with both teams knowing that a defeat spells doom.

If one A-League team is struggling, the other isn’t. Adelaide United are surprise leaders of Group H. It is not a shock when you consider that in 2008 the Reds were continental runners-up but the fact that they finished bottom of the just-concluded A-League suggests more recent form is poor. Still, the club knows what Asia is all about and some crafty ACL signings have revitalized Aurelio Vidmar’s men. The 2-0 win at the home of Shandong Luneng was perhaps the most impressive of the round.

More surprising was the 5-0 thrashing doled out by Al Sadd of Qatar to Al Ahli. That prompted Henk Ten Cate, who took control of the troubled UAE champions just last month, to offer to resign.

That is the kind of drama that the competition needs but for another week, there was plenty of it on the pitch too.

John Duerden

Asia Editor

john.duerden@goal.com