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Asian Champions League starts knockout stage [Tue Sep 13th, 2005]
The AFC Champions League may not yet have the glamour or the tradition of its European and South American equivalents, but the giant continent is capable of providing a fascinating competition.
Twenty-eight teams from fourteen different nations started back in March in seven groups of four, with the group winners and defending champions meeting in the quarter-finals that kick off on September 14.
Those games will take place in Saudi Arabia, South Korea, China and the United Arab Emirates, and the eight teams that kick off at varying times across Asia are especially keen to lift the continental title this year.
The revamped Champions League replaced the Asian Club Championship in 2003, and its third version offers the additional prize of a place in Tokyo to participate in the World Club Championship in December.
Saudi Arabia’s Al Ittihad are the reigning champions and have spent big in their attempt to hold on to the trophy. The teams trying to wrest the title from the city of Jeddah include 2003 winners Al Ain of the UAE.
There are six other teams, equally hungry to be crowned champions of Asia and get a crack at the world.
Quarter Finals (First Leg September 14, Second Leg September 21)
Pusan I-cons (South Korea) - Al Sadd (Qatar)
Shandong Luneng (China) - Al Ittihad (Saudi Arabia)
Al Ain (UAE) - Pas (Iran)
Al Ahli (Saudi Arabia) - Shenzhen Jianlibao (China)
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