A Shift Of Power In Asia
10/7/2005 11:44:00 AM
The first leg results of the 2005 AFC Champions League semi-finals seems to have brought home to fans on the giant continent that the balance of power has shifted westwards 每 domestically at least 每 as we will have to wait for the World Cup and the performances of Iran, Saudi Arabia, Japan and South Korea before we start the other debate.
However, there is little doubt that on a club level, the west is currently the best.
It wasn＊t always thus however, as quickly becomes apparent upon inspection of the history books.
As one would expect, the history of continental club football in Asia doesn＊t stretch back quite as far as Europe but there is enough to spot the occasional trend or two.
In the Champions League＊s predecessor, the Asian Club Championship; East Asian clubs clearly had the upper hand from the competition＊s inception in 1985 to its gentle phasing out in 2002.
Out of those 17 trophies that were raised joyously to the Asian sky, clubs from the east; namely China, Japan and South Korea, lifted the silverware a total of ten times. It went west five years and spent a couple of seasons residing in Thailand.
Matters have changed since the advent of the AFC Champions League in 2003. The prize has been the exclusive property of West Asia 每 Al Ain of the United Arab Emirates and then in 2004, Al-Ittihad of Saudi Arabia.
Even with the recent titles heading west, there was little sense that the situation had changed in Asia. However, that changed on September 28 as Al-Ittihad routed South Korea＊s Busan I＊Park 5-0 and Al Ain pulverised Chinese champions Shenzhen Jianlibao by six goals to nil.
The most surprising result was Ittihad＊s trouncing of Busan in Korea＊s second city. Busan had looked unstoppable in the earlier rounds of the competition, winning the group stage with six wins out of six, 25 goals scored and none conceded. A quarter-final with Qatar＊s Al-Sadd was also negotiated comfortably; a 5-1 victory offering little warning of what was to come.
The battle with the reigning Asian champions was expected to be a hard-fought one, and it was for the 55 minutes that it took for the Saudis to open the scoring. Four more goals came in the next half-hour as the Korean FA Cup holders＊ defence went AWOL.
It would be tempting to discuss the result as a freak, and the gaps on Busan＊s left flank were certainly unusual but that would be to ignore the Saudi side＊s recent history against East Asian opposition.
As they watched Saudi strikers run amok, Korean fans could have been forgiven for experiencing a feeling of d谷j角 vu as last December Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma crashed, at home to Al-Ittihad, by the same scoreline. That was the final of the AFC Champions League and Seongnam had won the Korean championship for the sixth time just the season and were widely regarded as one of the best teams in the Orient.
That was ＆Jeddah United＊s＊ last act in the competition until this September as the team receive a bye to the last eight where they thrashed China＊s Shandong Luneng 7-2 in the second leg and 8-3 on aggregate.
Busan and Shandong may not be the best team in South Korea or China but they are up there challenging at the top end of the table. I＊Park have been poor over recent years but Ian Porterfield has turned the club around and after winning the first stage of the K-League in July, the club has a real chance of lifting the silver trophy for the first time since 1997.
Shandong have also struggled since winning the Chinese championship in 1999 but made it to second spot last season, although the fact that Dalian Shide were docked six points was a boost to the team from Jinan.
This season the Shide have run away with the league but Shandong are firmly in the running for second spot, one that carries with it a place in the AFC Champions League. The seven goal thrashing was a humiliation as well as a surprise for the team that negotiated the group stages with a perfect record, including wins home and away against Japanese champions Yokohama F. Marinos.
The team that finished above Shandong in China last season, Shenzhen Jianlibao, eliminated defending South Korean champions Suwon Samsung Bluewings and J-League stalwarts Jubilo Iwata in the group stage but the six goal thrashing at the hands of Al Ain is just another twist in a crazy season in southern China.
Before defeating Al-Ittihad＊s city rivals Al-Ahli in the quarter-finals, Shenzhen had lost their previous two domestic games 5-1 and their record in the Chinese Super League as they try to defend their title is a dismal one 每 20 points from 23 games; 18 goals for and 37 conceded.
The reasons for such inconsistency deserve an article all of their own but on any given day in 2005, Shenzhen are capable of being defeated 6-0.
The fact that Busan were defeated by a similar scoreline on the same night was unfortunate for the east and the fact that the trophy looks set to reside in the west for a third consecutive year suggests a shift in power and with clubs in Qatar, the UAE as well as Saudi Arabia getting stronger all the time, it will take some doing for Korean, Chinese and Japanese clubs to wrest control back.
Al-Ittihad are the best team in Asia 每 there can be little doubt although Al Ain will have something to say about that. The Jeddah outfit is well-run, looks after and develops its players well and has the financial muscle to bring in overseas talent that clubs like the modestly financed Busan and the completely cash-strapped Shenzhen can only dream about.
Not many other clubs on the continent could afford to pay the reported $6 million loan fee for AS Monaco striker Mohamed Kallon and Joseph-Desire Job from Middlesbrough does not come cheap.
Barring a second leg miracle, it will be West Asia that lifts the trophy and represents the giant continent in December＊s World Club Championship and the clubs from the east will have to come up with a plan to stop Al-Ittihad and the best of the west in time for 2006.
John Duerden
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