Jeonbuk and Suwon Look to Keep Title In South Korea

K-LEAGUE,-  Jeonbuk Motors and Suwon Bluewings can cast off the troubled K-League’s woes and guarantee an Asian title treble for Korean teams when the AFC Champions League semifinals start on Wednesday.

Jeonbuk, the 2006 champion, takes on Saudi giant Al Ittihad, while Suwon hosts Qatar’s Al Sadd in the two-legged semifinals of Asia’s premier club competition, with return games played a week later.

Jeonbuk and Suwon will both be gunning to set up the first all-Korean final since 1997 and keep the continental trophy in South Korea for the third year running.

A South Korean victory would be particularly welcome for the K-League this year after shocking revelations of rampant match-fixing, which resulted in mass arrests, life bans and a suspected player suicide.

Jeonbuk has pledged not to abandon the attacking philosophy that has yielded 23 goals in eight Champions League outings as it takes on two-time winner Al Ittihad on its home turf.

“We will never play defensively even though this is an away match,” said coach and former national boss Choi Kang-hee. “This away match is critical and the most important match for us, but our players have a strong mind-set and we believe that we will beat them.”

Jeonbuk star Lee Dong-gook is the top scorer in this year’s competition so far with eight goals, a form that has earned him a recall to the national team.

“We are playing well together as a team with a number of different players making and scoring goals,” Lee said.

“We have to ensure that we stay focused against Al Ittihad as we know that it is a strong team with a real Asian pedigree.”

It is an eagerly awaited showdown. Since 2003 when the tournament was born in its current format, both Al Ittihad and Jeonbuk have reached the last eight of the competition five times, more than any other team.

Al Ittihad is the more successful and has the best record in the tournament’s history. Based in Jeddah, the Tigers won the 2004 and 2005 titles, and reached the final in 2009 only to lose to Pohang Steelers of South Korea.

There is more at stake for Jeonbuk and Al Ittihad than a place in the final — the winner will have home advantage.

The Asian Football Confederation has played around with the format for the final in recent years. First there was a home-and-away, two-legged affair, followed by a one-off match in Tokyo. This year, the final is once again a single match, but will be played at the home of one of the finalists, with the draw already confirming a showdown in either Jeonju or Jeddah.

That means that the winner of the other semifinal will face a more difficult road in order to lift the trophy.

Suwon, Asian champion in 2001 and 2002, will have to bounce back from losing Saturday’s Korean FA Cup final 1-0 to Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma, last year’s Champions League winner which is now qualified for the 2012 competition.

“If our luck had been different, we could have won, but now we will focus on the AFC Champions League and the semifinal,” said Suwon coach Yoon Sung-hyo.

Al Sadd, led by Uruguayan coach Jorge Fossati, departed for Suwon on the back of a three-match Qatar Stars League winning streak following its 3-1 weekend victory over Al Khor.

Al Sadd has been a little fortunate. It lost the first leg of its quarterfinal against Sepahan 1-0, but because the Iranian team fielded an ineligible player, the Asian Football Confederation awarded the match to Al Sadd with a 3-0 scoreline. Sepahan won the second leg 2-1.

Fans at Suwon World Cup Stadium will welcome back former player Lee Jung-soo. The Korean international defender left the club in 2008 and is in his second season with Al Sadd.

The Middle Eastern teams are bidding to halt a five-year hold on the trophy by East Asian sides going back to Al Ittihad’s consecutive victories in 2004 and 2005.
(AFP/AP)