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Asian Champions League Preview: Al Ahli v Shenzhen [Tue Sep 13th, 2005]
Another West Asia v East Asia matchup and another very close game in the offing.
Al Ahli (Saudi Arabia) - Shenzhen Jianlibao (China)
Despite winning the Saudi title three times, Al Ahli lie firmly in the shadow of fellow Jeddah outfit Al-Ittihad, one reason being that the last of the club’s three titles was won back in 1984.
The west Asians took top spot pf Group D fairly comfortably, finishing six points above the semi-finalists of 2003 and 2004, Pakhtakor of Uzbekistan. Since that stage finished, Brazilian coach Geninho has left Saudi Arabia to be replaced by IIija Lukic from Serbis-Montengro.
Geninho’s compatriot, striker Alessandro may have been the joint top scorer of the first stage, but he too has been replaced by Moroccan Youssef Rabeh.
It is a good time to play the defending champions of China - while Shenzhen Jianlibao managed to squeeze past much-fancied Korean champions Suwon Samsung Bluewings in the group stage, the club have been in chaos back in the Middle Kingdom.
If languishing near the bottom of the Chinese Super League wasn’t bad enough, at the start of September, the club’s players went on a 24-hour strike in protest at not being paid, but with experienced internationals such as Lei Weifeng and goalkeeper Li Leilei in the team, the Chinese outfit cannot be counted out just yet.
John Duerden
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