Evergrande wins AFC Champions League
- By Xiang Bin
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E-mail China.org.cn, November 10, 2013
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| Guangzhou break China's title drought after clinching AFC Champions League on away goals after a 1-1 draw against Seoul. [Xinhua] |
Guangzhou Evergrande became the first Chinese club to win the AFC Champions League on Saturday evening as the Chinese champions secured the title on the away goals after a 3-3 aggregate draw with FC Seoul.
Elkeson's brilliant opener on 58 minutes was quickly cancelled out by FC Seoul's Dejan Damjanovic, but a draw at Tianhe Stadium was enough for Lippi's team after their 2-2 result two weeks ago in Seoul.
Guangzhou will now represent the Asian Football Confederation at the FIFA Club World Cup in Morocco next month having added the AFC Champions League to the Chinese Super League title they retained at the end of October.
World Cup-winning coach Marcello Lippi made history by becoming the first one to win Champions Leagues in both in Europe and Asia.
Evergrande's Argentine playmaker Dario Conca twice grazed the post in a mixed first half but the game came alive when Brazilian striker Elkeson showed superb touch to open the scoring.
The powerful forward stretched out his left leg to deftly flick on Muriqui's ball from the centre circle, a touch that gave him space to coolly drive the ball low into the FC Seoul goal.
The home side's lead lasted just seven minutes when Sergio Escudero held off the Guangzhou defence before releasing Damjanovic who, having barely seen sight of goal all game, finished with conviction to Zeng Cheng's right to put the game in the balance once more.
However, the visitors were unable to carve out any further chances and after a tense finish the red-clad crowd erupted at the final whistle.
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