Soccer: Al Ittihad beat Nagoya to reach ACL final+

NAGOYA, Oct. 28 Kyodo -
Saudi Arabia's Al Ittihad moved into the Asian Champions League final Wednesday
with a 2-1 win away to Nagoya Grampus in the second leg of the semifinals.

Two-time champions Al Ittihad went through 8-3 on aggregate and will meet the
winner of a later semifinal between Umm Salal of Qatar and South Korea's Pohang
Steelers. Pohang hold a 2-0 lead from the first leg.
The final will be held at Tokyo's National Stadium on Nov. 7, with the winners
clinching a spot at the World Club Cup in Abu Dhabi in December.
''The game went exactly as planned,'' said Al Ittihad's Argentine coach Gabriel
Calderon. ''I think the results both at home and away show we are worthy of a
place in the final. Now of course we will go and try and win the cup.''
Nagoya were left with a mountain to climb after a 6-2 defeat in Jeddah last
week, but the home side enjoyed the better of the first half and nearly opened
the scoring when Australian striker Josh Kennedy headed against the crossbar.
However, the Saudis dealt Nagoya a knockout blow shortly before the interval
when Saleh Al Saqri struck after Toru Hasegawa could only parry Mohammed Noor's
flick.
Amine Chermiti added a second for the visitors and although substitute Keita
Sugimoto pulled one back with a spectacular overhead kick, it was scant
consolation for Dragan Stojkovic's men, who were aiming to become the third
Japanese club in a row to win Asia's premier club competition.
''I think we made a good game and had a good mentality,'' said Stojkovic.
''Unfortunately we lost but I am very satisfied with the behavior of my players
today.''
''This is the maximum of Grampus. To be in the best four, it is a really good
result.''
==Kyodo
2009-10-28 22:37:08