Urawa Red Diamonds won the Asian Champions League
The Japanese club Urawa Red Diamonds won the Asian Champions League football after finishing 1-0 in Al-Hilal (Saudi Arabia) in the second final of the tournament. Urava’s players raised the Saitama stadium after a total score of 2: 1. Thus Urawa Red Diamonds will present Asia to the World Club Championship in December this year.
The victory came with Rafael Silva goal two minutes before the end of regular time, as the Brazilian scored in the first match for 1: 1. With this success Urava became the first Japanese team to win the continental crown after Osaka Gamba in 2009. For Red Diamonds, this is the second title in Asia, the first one exactly 10 years ago. And victory today confirmed the domination of East Asian teams.
There is no team from the Arab countries or from West Asia who won the most prestigious club competition on the continent from the success of Al Sad (Qatar) in 2011 over Chungkuk Motors (Republic of Korea) after shooting.
Al Hilal stayed with 10 players at the end of the match, and this completely diminished their chances of ultimate success. They had a lost finish in 2014, when they retreated to Western Sydney (Australia). Today, the Saudi Arabian team had a higher percentage of ball possession and chances to score, but the hosts impressed with a compact defense. The disappointment took them 12 minutes before the end of the match, when Salem Al Daussari was eliminated with a direct red card due to a bruffing foul. Two minutes before the end Rafael Silva crashed 60,000 Japanese on the stands after sending the ball unspoiled under the bar with a blow from the border of the penalty area.