In programma
mercoledì 21 ottobre le semifinali di andata di Champions asiatica.
Al Ittihad FC - Nagoya Grampus Eight ore 18:50
I "Giganti di Jeddah", favoriti per il titolo e fin qui inappuntabili in questa avventura continentale, affrontano i giapponesi del Nagoya, sorpresa del torneo ma giunti con più fatica alle fasi cruciali della manifestazione.
Al Ittihad che arriva a questa semifinale da imbattuto e che notoriamente al Prince Abdullah Al Faisal Stadium concede poco agli avversari.
Davanti ai propri tifosi, nelle ultime partecipazioni alla Champions, hanno ottenuto nove vittorie ed un pari a fronte di una sola sconfitta, 0-1 contro il Sepahan.
Giapponesi che hanno avuto qualche difficoltà in più per avanzare fino alle semifinali e che in campionato, come potrà confermare l'ottimo Bobas, non stanno facendo molto bene.
A pochi turni dalla fine si trovano in una anonima posizione di centro classifica.
Un pò di notizie:
*To the delight of Al Ittihad fans, the Jeddah giants have been in cruise-control mode - when not on turbo-charge - for most of their AFC Champions League matches this year.
With Ittihad playing the first leg of the semi-finals at their intimidating den of Prince Abdullah Al Faisal Stadium, their rivals Nagoya Grampus of Japan have every reason to be worried.
Gabriel Calderon’s men are near invincible at home, having not lost a single match in the AFC Champions League group and knockout phases so far. In fact, they have not lost any match till date in this edition.
The absence of two players - Redha Tukar (suspension) and Naif Hazazi (injury) - could prove to be a spot of bother for Ittihad, while Moroccan hitman Hicham Aboucherouane will be looking to add to his tally of five goals.
Road to the final:
Group Stage – Group C
Al Ittihad vs Esteghlal (Iran) 2-1
Umm Salal (Qatar) vs Al Ittihad 1-3
Al Jazira (UAE) vs Al Ittihad 0-0
Al Ittihad vs Al Jazira (UAE) 1-1
Esteghlal (Iran) vs Al Ittihad 1-1
Al Ittihad vs Umm Salal (Qatar) 7-0
Round of 16:
Al Ittihad vs Al Shabab (Saudi Arabia): 2-1
QF:
Pakhtakor (Uzb) vs Al Ittihad 1-1
Al Ittihad vs Pakhtakor (Uzb) 4-0
Statistics
Goals scored: 21
Goal conceded: 6
Suspended players: Redha Tukar (Two yellow cards in the QFs)
Yellow cards through the tournament: 19
Red cards through the tournament: 0
Best scorers
Hicham Aboucherouane: 5
Naif Hazazi: 3
Renato: 3
Osama Al Harbi: 2
Saleh Al Saqri: 2
Mohammed Noor: 1
Amine Chermiti: 1
Sultan Alnumare: 1
Emad Metaeb: 1
Hamad Al Montashari: 1
Talal Al Meshal: 1
*Nagoya Grampus owe their place in the AFC Champions League semi-finals to gritty fightbacks, which became their trademark in this edition.
Dragan Stojkovic’s charges - promptly labeled underdogs, no thanks to their mediocre J.League showing - managed difficult wins in the Round of 16 and the quarter-finals against Suwon Bluewings and Kawasaki Frontale respectively.
The quarter-final derby humdinger was a stand-out match with Nagoya coming back from a one-goal opening leg deficit to trounce Kawasaki 3-1. The disciplined J.Leaguers have also collected the least cautions so far - 12.
Yoshizumi Ogawa has been the find for the club, netting five goals while new signing Josh Kennedy is proving a handful for rival defences.
Road to the final
Group Stage – Group E
Ulsan Hyundai (Kor) vs Nagoya Grampus 1-3
Nagoya Grampus vs Beijing Guoan (Chn) 0-0
Nagoya Grampus vs Newcastle Jets (Aus) 1-1
Newcastle Jets (Aus) vs Nagoya Grampus 0-1
Nagoya Grampus vs Ulsan Hyundai (Kor) 4-1
Beijing Guoan (Chn) vs Nagoya Grampus 1-1
Round of 16
Nagoya Grampus vs Suwon Samsung (Kor) 2-1
QFs
Kawasaki Frontale (Japan) vs Nagoya Grampus 2-1
Nagoya Grampus vs Kawasaki Frontale (Japan) 3-1
Statistics
Goals scored: 16
Goals conceded: 8
Suspended players: None
Yellow cards through the tournament: 12
Red cards through the tournament: 0
Best scorers
Yoshizumi Ogawa: 5
Josh Kennedy: 2
Yoshida: 2
Davi: 2
Tamada Keiji: 2
Magnum : 1
Maki Yuki : 1
Niikawa Oribe: 1
*DAYS before their AFC Champions League semi-finals, Japan’s Nagoya Grampus might be a bit nervous while Pohang Steelers, of Korea Republic, have a spring in their step.
Nagoya, who are already hampered by the loss of swine-flu ridden defender Takahiro Masukawa, lost 2-1 to Yokohama Marinos in their J.League match on Saturday.
It was their second straight J.League defeat, having been beaten 2-1 by FC Tokyo a fortnight ago.
It is not the result they want as they travel to Saudi Arabia to face Al Ittihad in their ACL semi-final on Wednesday.
Maya Yoshida had given Nagoya a 1-0 lead after only five minutes but Daisuke Sakata equalised for the Marinos after 30 minutes and Kenta Kano hit the winner just before the final whistle.
Earlier this week, Nagoya confirmed that Masukawa was in hospital with symptoms of H1N1. No other players had contracted the virus, according to reports.
*TOKYO: Nagoya Grampus’ striker Keiji Tamada will be out of action for three weeks after suffering a serious injury in Japan’s 6-0 win over Hong Kong in the AFC Asian Cup 2011 qualifiers on Thursday.
The blow comes at a time when Nagoya are preparing for the AFC Champions League semi-final first leg against Saudi Arabia’s Al Ittihad on October 21.
Tamada was substituted by Daisuke Matsui during the match against Hong Kong in the 33rd minute after crashing into a rival defender.
After the match he was sent to the hospital where doctors confirmed a broken left cartilage rib that would take three weeks to mend.
This means Tamada is likely to miss the second leg of the AFC Champions League semi-finals too, forcing a selection headache for Nagoya coach Dragan Stojkovic.
*courtesy of "the-afc.com"
Nonostante qualche assenza tra le fila degli arabi, penso sia da appoggiare una loro affermazione.
La quota purtroppo è già in fase calante, ma direi che quel
2,30@nordicbet sulla vittoria Al Ittihad sia ancora potabile.
Investite 10u
p.s.: Mello non sei passato in Sudan....?
