ACL: Diego Forlan debuted in Cerezo Osaka vs Pohang Steelers match
На дворе - февраль, но в Восточной Азии уже открыли новый футбольный сезон. При температуре плюс 10 в Сеуле 25 февраля в открывающем матче Лиги чемпионов Азии 2014 южнокорейская команда FC Seoul выиграла 2-0 у австралийской Central Coast Mariners.
Pohang Steelers в тот же день на своем стадионе в г. Похане, расположенном на юго-востоке Кореи, сыграла вничью 1-1 с японской Cerezo Osaka , в составе которой дебютировал знаменитый уругвайский нападающий, лучший игрок ЧМ 2010 года в ЮАР Диего Форлан. Форлан недавно подписал контракт с японским клубом.
Открытие сезона 2014 u/ высшей лиги Чемпионата Южной Кореи (K-league Classic) состоится 8 марта матчем Похан-Ульсан.
On Tuesday Febr 25th South Korean teams opened 2014 AFC Champions league season with two matches.
FC Seoul 2-0 Central Coast Mariners.
FC Seoul showed no ill-effects following a disrupted pre-season as last year’s beaten finalists opened their 2014 AFC Champions League campaign with a comfortable 2-0 win over Australia’s Central Coast Mariners
Choi Yong-soo’s men put in a polished performance in their first competitive match of the year, displaying the slick attacking prowess and passing play that helped take them all the way to the 2013 AFC Champions League Final.
The Mariners fought bravely at the 66,000-capacity Seoul World Cup Stadium, but were undone just after the half hour when referee Fahad Almirdasi awarded a highly contentious penalty after minimal contact appeared to be made between Central Coast defender Joshua Rose and Seoul attacker Sergio Escudero.
Pohang Steelers 1-1 Cerezo Osaka
Goals from Yoichiro Kakitani and Bae Chun-suk meant Pohang Steelers and Cerezo Osaka shared the points after a 1-1 draw in their opening AFC Champions League Group E encounter at The Steelyard. #ACL2014
Prolific forward Kakitani temporarily silenced the noisy home fans with a superb finish after just 11 minutes, but second-half substitute Bae scored a deserved equaliser for the three-time Asian champions on 61 minutes, writes Asian Football Confederation site.
The result means that Group E is all square after Chinese Super League side Shandong Luneng also drew 1-1 with Thai visitors Buriram United in the day’s early kick-off.
The J.League side took the lead in sublime fashion after just 11 minutes when a long ball from skipper Hotaru Yamaguchi found Kakitani on the edge of the penalty area. The prolific young forward then twisted past centre-back Kim Won-il before curling a spectacular finish high into the top corner past Pohang goalkeeper Shin Hwa-yong.
While the K-League Classic champions endeavored to find an immediate response, it took until the 35th minute for their first clear-cut chance at goal as right midfielder Cho Chan-ho broke down the Cerezo left-side and whipped in an inviting cross that an unmarked Go Moo-yul could only head over the bar.
After the restart Pohang continued to press the visitors, cheered on by their boisterous fans in The Steelyard, and they finally got their reward a minute past the hour mark.
Cerezo’s marquee signing, 2010 FIFA World Cup MVP Diego Forlan, was introduced immediately following the equaliser but he struggled to make his presence felt as Pohang continued to control proceedings. The remaining quarter of an hour saw the J.League side continue to soak up pressure as Pohang continued to enjoy the lion’s share of possession but they struggled to further test Kim in the Cerezo goal before the referee called an end to the contest.
Japanese clubs vs. South Korean clubs.
The J-League has fallen behind its South Korean and Chinese domestic counterparts in recent years, with Gamba Osaka’s 2008 title followed by three South Korean wins and the victory by a Marcello Lippi-led Guangzhou Evergrande of China last season.
Japan, along with Korea, Iran and Saudi Arabia, has four representatives in the 32-team tournament, which is divided into west and eastern zones until the quarter-final stage. J-League champions Sanfrecce Hiroshima are the leading contender, despite having crashed out in last year’s group stage without a single victory.
Cerezo Osaka boast veteran Uruguay striker and big-name import Diego Forlan, who signed this month in a deal reportedly worth US$5.6 million (Dh20.6m). The 2010 World Cup Golden Boot winner will link up with highly rated Japanese international Yoichiro Kakitani.
South Korea teams have contested the past five finals and boast 10 continental titles in total. With talent being lost to the increasingly lucrative Chinese Super League, a continuation of such success will be challenging, despite three of its four representatives – Jeonbuk Motors, Ulsan Horangi and Pohang Steelers – all having lifted the trophy in the past decade, wrote AP.
The other Korean representative is 2013 runners-up FC Seoul. Two of the club’s biggest stars, Dejan Damjanovic and Ha Dae-sung, left for Chinese teams in deals worth over $9m combined. “Ha and Dejan are big losses for the team,” midfielder Yun Il-rok said. “But Seoul are still strong as a team and it does not matter so much about the specific players,” Yun said.
Text/sources: @irinamow; AP, Central Coast Mariners;Asian Football Confederation, The National sites.
