Al Ain: 2024 AFC Champions League Winners

 

Al Ain: Doubles from Soufiane Rahimi and Kodjo Laba drove United Arab Emirates’ Al Ain FC to win the AFC Champions League™ 2023/24 title following a 5-1 victory over Japan’s Yokohama F. Marinos in the second leg of the final at Hazza bin Zayed Stadium on Saturday.

The J1 League side had won the first leg 2-1 in Yokohama, but a scintillating second-half performance from Al Ain meant the inaugural winners of the AFC Champions League in 2002-03 become also the last team to win it under the current format before the launch of the AFC Champions League Elite next year.

Following their continental triumph, Al Ain become Asia’s fourth representatives at the FIFA Club World Cup 2025, joining Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal SFC, Japan’s Urawa Red Diamonds and Korea Republic’s Ulsan HD at the US tournament next year.

Already holding a one-goal advantage from the home tie two weeks earlier, the Japanese side came racing out of the blocks trying to add another that could ease the task in front of a packed Hazza bin Zayed Stadium.

Anderson Lopes tested goalkeeper Khaled Eisa within two minutes, but his shot from a tight angle was saved by the UAE international.

With seven knockout stage goals to his name already, the Moroccan showed his quality once again, picking the ball up on the left flank, cutting inside and feinting a shot but instead intelligently finding Yahia Nader who produced a moment of genius, sending a backheel pass that left goalkeeper William Popp in no man’s land and allowing Rahimi to slot home into the empty net for the opener.

Rahimi’s pace continued to be a nuisance for the Marinos defence; the Moroccan was too quick for Shinnosuke Hatanaka, beating the Japanese centre-back to the ball and forcing him to commit a foul inside the box, which translated into a penalty kick following a VAR check. Paraguayan playmaker Alejandro Romero (Kaku) stepped up and slotted home his side’s second.

Al Ain continued to rely on counter attacks and could have been 3-0 on the night seven minutes before the break when Rahimi pushed forward down the wing, beating his markers, but with just the goalkeeper to beat from a narrow angle, the winger’s left-footed finish hit the side netting instead.

The visitors equalised the aggregate score in the 40th minute, as Yan Matheus capitalised on a mistake from Kouame Kouadio to snatch the ball, cut into his left foot and aimed for the bottom far corner where Eisa’s fingertips were unable to stop it nestling into the back of the net to make it 2-1 on the night.

There was still room for more drama before the break as Marinos were reduced to 10 men following a red card to goalkeeper Popp.

Once more it was Rahimi causing trouble; he broke free down the middle at full speed, rounding the goalkeeper who made contact to bring him just outside the penalty box, receiving his marching orders in the process.

Al Ain piled up the pressure after the restart, with head coach Hernan Crespo introducing striker Laba for full-back Saeed Jumaa.

The hosts were rewarded for their attacking endeavors with a third goal midway through the second half, and once more it was Rahimi delivering the goods, while it was Laba who was the focal point of the attack, starting the move which saw defender Eduardo clear the ball, but only as far as Rahimi who controlled it expertly, moving it to his left foot and hammering home for Al Ain’s third.

It was the 27-year-old’s 13th goal of the campaign, matching the record for most goals in a single AFC Champions League season, shared by Guangzhou FC’s Muriqui (2013), FC Seoul’s Adriano (2016) and Al Sadd’s Baghdad Bounedjah (2018).

With 10 minutes of added time given, substitute Laba cemented the win with a fourth goal. Goalkeeper Fuma Shirasaka, who himself had come in the place of Elber following the dismissal of Popp in the first half, committed a horror mistake, missing his attempt to clear Rahimi’s through pass, allowing the Togolese forward to finish comfortably into the empty net for his seventh goal of the campaign, having last scored in the round of 16.

Deep into added time, Laba added his second of the night and his team’s fifth. The 32-year-old fed Kaku down the left and the Paraguayan sent a low effort that looked set for a comfortable Shirasaka save, but the slightest of touches from Laba changed the direction of the ball into the back of the net to seal a 6-3 aggregate victory for the Emiratis.

The emphatic triumph made up for Al Ain’s final defeats to Al Ittihad in 2005 and to Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors in 2016.

Western Sydney Wanderers: 2014 AFC Champions League Champions

"The Western Sydney Wanderers!", they said!

They've changed the sporting landscape, they said! Their success in beating that team from Saudi Arabia to win the Asian Championship is the harbinger of a new age, they said, where football – yes, FOOTBALL, you knuckle-dragging Neanderthals – is finally going to rise up and take its place at the forefront of the Australian sporting codes!

By any measure, the success of the Wanderers, just a couple of years after being established, is staggering. 

I have one thing to say to all you smarty-pants who've been writing such emails to me, you narks, you sharks, you whingers, you whiners, you know-all blow-hards. Just one thing to say:

I think you might be right.

By any measure, the success of the Wanderers, just a couple of years after being established, is staggering.

Firstly, their success in the A-League. For who knew that that comp could be so successful? Not this little black duck, who has uttered sneers for years that soccer would never take off in this country. But you only had to see the crowds at A-League Wanderers matches – whole battalions of them standing on their seats, all in red, and seemingly allsmoking the same thing – to know that something fundamental has changed. Such enthusiasm! Such passion! So many of the boogers!

And then for them to be crowned the kings of all Asia?

A phenomenal achievement, and congratulations to them. Let the record show, the sleeping giant of Australian sport,  will likely soon be dancing for the pleasure of hundreds of thousands.

The question is, which other sports is this going to impact on?

My email inbox is filled with predictions that it will finish off rugby union – at least from those generous enough to acknowledge that rugby is not already dead.

I don't think so. Rugby has major problems right now, and it really is under threat from a variety of forces and factors – not least self-mutilation – but the growing of soccer doesn't show up on my radar as one of them. For that to be the case, there would need to have been a migration from the Waratahs and Wallaby support base to soccer and, anecdotally at least, I have no evidence of that. I further note that the one ace-in-the-hole that Australian rugby has is precisely the same one that Australian soccer is so demonstrably benefiting from – the growing global pull of their game. In that sense, soccer and rugby are allies not competitors. 

Rugby league then? A bit. The Wanderers are at their strongest in the very heartland of the Parramatta Eels, and though the A-League is a summer comp, it has been hard to miss the fact that Western Sydney seems to be right behind the Wanderers the way they used to be behind the Eels.

Ditto the Western Sydney Giants. In the competition to win the hearts and minds of the people, and turn those into bums on seats, there is no way around the fact that the Giants and Wanderers have come along at much the same time . . . and it is the Wanderers breaking all the records and getting all the headlines, all while the Swans have been making the running in the AFL all the way to the grand final.

But the sport that should be loosening its collar right now is, oddly enough, cricket. Both the A-League and cricket are on at much the same time, and are going after much the same people. Can I put it to you that if you like watching T-20 matches, it is not such a massive leap to go to a Wanderers or Sydney FC match instead, or even pay to watch it on the tube? And all this at a time when Australian cricket is struggling.

So we'll see. How it is all going to play out will become clearer as the summer progresses, but my pound to your peanut says that as the share price of soccer rises, so too will the share price of cricket drop. You heard it here first.

I haven't been wrong before, have I?

Oh, do shut up, Buddy.

Twitter: @Peter_Fitz 

Wanderers head into the unknown

Western Sydney goalkeeper Ante Covic has declared the Wanderers won’t be intimidated, even if Al-Hilal fans resort to dirty tricks on and off the field when the team arrives in Riyadh for the second leg of their Asian Champions League decider.

The Wanderers were subjected to disruptive and potentially dangerous behaviour in Guangzhou, China for their ACL quarter-final, when locals deliberately caused car crashes with the team bus and shined laser pointers into players’ faces during training and the match.

Covic had a laser shined directly at him when saving a penalty early in the tie-clinching match against Guangzhou Evergrande, and said he and the Wanderers are expecting similar shenanigans from the passionate Saudi Arabian supporters.

Laser pointers were first used at Saudi venues back in 2006, and King Fahd Stadium with its capacity of 65,000, is known for being a gauntlet for opposition supporters.

The veteran shot-stopper said if Al-Hilal try to disrupt the Wanderers, they will live to regret it.

“We’re not going to be intimidated,” said Covic.

“We’re not going to care what they’re going to throw at us.

“We were in China with 50,000-odd people throwing bottles and yelling at us. We couldn’t even walk off the field without security coming to get us, so that’s not going to faze us.

“They can do what they want.

“We’re going there with the mindset that something probably will happen.

“(But) if they’re thinking of throwing any tricks, they’re going to be doing it to the wrong team.”

In Guangzhou, the Wanderers say they were spurred on by the outrageous tactics of the locals.

From dogs being set loose during training sessions to intruders door-knocking and prank-calling the team hotel at 2am the morning of the match, the Wanderers thought they’d seen it all.

That was until the trip to the ground, where the team bus was hit from the front and rammed from the back, forcing the players to change vehicles.

Then within minutes, two cars suspiciously crashed into each other directly in front of the new bus, attempting to delay the Wanderers’ journey to the ground.

Western Sydney lost 2-1, but the away goal was enough to guarantee their path to the semi-finals.

“It was a very, very suss bus crash. The boys were looking at each other going, `alright, this is what you’ve got for us.’

“It really fired us up more than anything.

“That’s the nature of our team.

“Throw anything at us and we’ll come back at you twice as hard.”

Covic said one thing the players weren’t going to worry about was the officiating.

“That’s out of our hands,” he said.

“The only thing we can be worried about is what we can control.

“If they want to try little things like (50-50 calls going to Al-Hilal), that’s something we have to deal with in a professional manner.

“We’re going to be disciplined on the field and do everything we can do to win the game.”

Who Do We Sing For!? We Sing For Wanderers!!!

Western Sydney Wanderers are going to great lengths to ensure their supporters can travel to Saudi Arabia for the final of the Asian Champions League but there is no guarantee female and Jewish supporters will be granted entry visas.

The Wanderers face Al-Hilal in Riyadh on November 1 in the second leg of the continental decider but a section of their supporters may be denied a chance to witness a potential Asian title due to their gender, race or religious background.

The club is in the process of arranging travel packages with the support of Al-Hilal and the Saudi Arabian Football Federation but it will not be known until the end of the week whether unaccompanied females and Jewish supporters will be able to travel due to the strict laws of the nation.

The club has received over 200 enquiries for away tickets and is finalising the travel package – which will cater for match tickets, travel, accommodation and visas – with the blessing of relevant authorities. It is hoped the tour will allow for female supporters to attend but there is still no indication it will be sufficient enough to allow entry for supporters of Jewish background.

Due to conservative legislation, women face difficulties in obtaining tourist visas for Saudi Arabia while those of Jewish heritage, Israelis or even those who have visited Israel, are not permitted entry.

While AFC regulations state a club's fans must be allowed access without prejudice, their stature does not overrule state legislation.

"There needs to be an invitation. We are working with the FFA [Football Federation of Australia], AFC [Asian Football Confederation], the Saudi Arabian Football Federation and Al-Hilal to obtain an invitation for our supporters to travel," a Wanderers spokesman said.

Single women must be in the company of a male relative or their husband and travel with marriage certificates to obtain a tourist visa, or must be escorted at all times as part of a supervised tourism group.

Saudi football has a long history of banning women from attending games. The nation allowed females to attend matches only last year, and under harsh restricitions.

Only selected stadiums cater for segregated sections, which prevent male and female supporters standing next to each other. Under pressure from international organisations, the Saudi Arabian domestic league allowed a number of women to attend the games in reserved sections of the stadium, as per the custom of many public events.

There are also concerns that should female Wanderers fans be granted visas, they will also be seggregated once within King Fahd Stadium. One of the proposed options for the tour is to station supporters in a nearby Gulf nation before the match and fly them into Riyadh for game day, to ensure a safe passage to and from the stadium and in and out of Saudi Arabia.

The club has not yet received any advice for homosexual Wanderers supporters wishing to travel to the second leg, but the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trading states: "Homosexual activity is illegal and penalties include the death penalty."

It is understood Wanderers are working with the AFC to arrange a way for their chairman, Paul Lederer to attend the match under arrangements often reserved for diplomats.

Lederer, who is Jewish, is understood to be keen to attend the match, but faces difficulty in obtaining a visa. 

The club hopes Lederer can bypass those laws under unspecified arrangements as an invited special guest of the AFC. Competition regulations state: "Hosting Club and its National Association must guarantee and ensure that access to the stadium will be granted to the AFC delegation, officials and players of the visiting club, sponsors, travelling fans and media without any discrimination of gender, race or nationality."