Al Ain defeated Yokohama Marinos to win their first Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League (ACL) title in 21 years. Park Yong-woo played the entire match and scored the winning goal.
Al Ain won the second leg of the ACL final against Yokohama 5-1 at 1 a.m. ET on Saturday at the Haji Bin Zayed Stadium in the United Arab Emirates. With a 6-3 advantage on aggregate, Al Ain emerged on top of Asia.
Al Ain, coached by Hernan Crespo, deployed a 4-3-3 formation. Khalid Eissa wore the gloves. Bandar Al-Babbi, Kuami Otone, Khalid Al-Hashimi, and Saeed Zouma formed the back four. Park Yong-woo, Yahya Nader and Mohamed Albas combined in the middle. Matthias Palacios, Sofiane Lahimi and Alejandro Kaku formed the attacking trio.
Yokohama, led by Harry Kewell, responded with a 4-2-3-1 formation. William Pope was in goal. Katsuya Nagato, Takumi Kamijima, Shinnosuke Hatanaka, and Ken Matsubara formed the defense. Gota Watanabe and Takuya Kashiwa supported their teammates in the third line, while Asahi Uenaka and Jan Mateusz flanked Andersson Lopes in the second line. The frontline attack was led by Eubert.
Al Ain took the lead on aggregate in the eighth minute when Rahimi rattled the net with his right foot after a sensational pass from Nader. In the 17th minute, Yokohama tried to fight back with a mid-range effort from Matsubara, but he couldn’t get it past Eisa. In the 26th minute, Wantanabe’s mid-range shot went straight into the arms of Eisa.
In the 29th minute, Hatanaka was fouled in the box while trying to stop Rahimi’s penetration, resulting in a penalty kick, which Kaku converted to give Al Ain the lead on aggregate. In the 38th minute, Rahimi found space in the Yokohama backline and had his sights set on a second goal, but his shot went into the side netting.
In the 40th minute, Yokohama equalized the score on aggregate when Mateus took advantage of a mistake by his opponent and calmly 메이저토토사이트 scored. In the 10th minute of first-half stoppage time, Yokohama was awarded a direct red card when Pope committed a foul while attempting to stop an attack from outside the box.
Outnumbered, Yokohama introduced Keigo Sakakibara for Uenaka at the start of the second half. Al Ain took full control of the game in the second half, taking frequent shots on goal and Yokohama were desperate to stop them. The gap was further 안전놀이터 widened in the 22nd minute when Rahimi calmly fooled a defender in the box before hitting the near post.
Ten minutes of second-half stoppage time were awarded. Al Ain continued to press the attack. In the first minute of stoppage time, goalkeeper Fuma Shirasaka made a costly mistake, allowing Kozo Rabah to pounce on the loose ball and find the back of the net. Five minutes into the second period, Lava found the back of the net for Yokohama to put the game out of reach.
With a five-goal lead at home, Al Ain pulled off the upset in the second leg to clinch the ACL crown. Al Ain, who had failed to win the ACL title since the 2002-03 season, basked in the glory after 21 years. Park Yong-woo started the match and did his part with his presence in the midfield. Meanwhile, Nam Tae-hee missed the game and could only hope for a runner-up finish for his team.