November 14, 2007
PA Sport

SAITAMA – Urawa Reds became the first Japanese side to win the AFC Champions League with goals from Yuichiro Nagai and Yuki Abe earning the J.League champions a 2-0 win over Sepahan at Saitama Stadium on Wednesday evening as they completed a 3-1 aggregate victory.

Nagai gave Urawa the lead in the 22nd minute in front of more than 59,000 fans before Abe doubled his side’s advantage on the night with a header from close range 19 minutes from time, wrapping up what was a comfortable win for Holger Osieck’s side.

Reds had gone into the game with the slimmest of advantages from the first leg after a 1-1 draw in Esfahan which gave the Japanese a valuable away goal ahead of the home tie.

Urawa’s hopes were further boosted by the return of inspirational defender Marcus Tulio Tanaka, who missed the first leg due to injury, while Mahmoud Karimi, scorer of the equaliser for Sepahan in Iran last week, was left on the bench alongside defender Jalal Akbari for the visitors.

Sepahan goalkeeper Abbas Mohammadi was called into action as early as the eighth minute when he reacted superbly to push Tulio’s header to safety after Robson Ponte’s perfectly weighted free kick into the penalty area.

However, 14 minutes later the Iranian goalkeeper was picking the ball out of the net.

Another ball forward by Ponte – this time from open play – was sent in the direction of Nagai and, after a miskick by Jaba Mujiri, the Reds striker lashed the ball beyond Mohammadi’s despairing grasp and into the top corner.

As a result of the goal, the decibel level in the stadium moved up several notches but, despite going a goal behind, Sepahan remained composed.

Within five minutes of Nagai’s strike, the Iranians were pushing forward, looking for a goal of their own.

Former Iraqi international Abdul Wahab Abolheil let fly with his attempt from long range, only to see the ball go beyond Ryota Tsuzuki’s right post.

Sepahan, though, struggled to break down the Reds defence and, as a result, coach Luka Bonacic introduced Karimi for Emad Ridha with 15 minutes remaining in the first half as he sought a way through.

But it was at the other end that the next goal looked more likely to be scored. Nagai’s 39th-minute pass released Ponte only for the Brazilian to fail to pull the trigger in time.

Two minutes later Washington tried his luck with an outrageous attempted lob from just inside the Sepahan half, only for the ball to clip the top of Mohammadi’s crossbar.

With seconds remaining in the half, Sepahan had a rare glimpse of goal when a mix up between Tulio and Tsuzuki presented Karimi with the opportunity to level the scores, but his weak shot was hacked to safety as Tulio atoned for his earlier error.

Sepahan made another change at the start of the second half, with Mohsen Hamidi making way for Hossein Papi.

And less than six minutes after the restart, Moharram Navidkia had the Reds fans flustered for a split second when he came close to ending a flowing move with a flourish, but his shot was narrowly wide of Tsuzuki’s goal.

Just 60 seconds later Reds should have wrapped the game up when Washington cut inside the Sepahan defence, only for the Brazilian to delay taking his shot. When it eventually came, Mohammadi was equal to the task.

Mohammadi again denied Washington in the 61st minute when he pulled off a point-blank block of the 32-year-old’s volley.

But there was little he could do in the 71st minute as Reds killed off the game. Washington’s lay-off inside the area found Nagai and, while Mohammadi blocked his goal-bound effort, Abe pounced to head home the rebound as it ballooned into the air.

From there, Reds ran down the clock – although Sepahan did find the back of the net with Karimi in an offside position – before claiming a deserved first Asian title for the club.

As Asian champions, Urawa will go directly into the quarter-finals of the FIFA Club World Cup, to be played in Japan next month.

Sepahan have also earned a berth in the tournament but they must first play Oceania club champions Waitakere United of New Zealand in a play-off to qualify for the knock-out stages.