East Asia Wrap: Shanghai clubs win crunch openers; Daejeon stun Ulsan

Mon, 17 Apr, 2023

East Asia Wrap: Shanghai clubs win crunch openers; Daejeon stun Ulsan

Hong Kong: Reigning champions Wuhan Three Towns suffered a 2-0 defeat to Shanghai Port on Saturday as the Chinese Super League returned for the new season while 2022 runners-up Shandong Taishan also kicked off their campaign with a 1-0 loss to Shanghai Shenhua. 

Defending champions Ulsan Hyundai’s six-game winning streak at the start of the new season in Korea Republic was snapped following a 2-1 loss to newcomers Daejeon Hana Citizen on Sunday, but Hong Myung-bo’s side still lead the way in K League 1 by three points over Pohang Steelers. 

In Japan, Yuya Osako and Yoshinori Muto scored two goals apiece as frontrunners Vissel Kobe defeated Kashima Antlers 5-1 on Saturday to preserve their two-point lead while there were also matches in Hong Kong and Macau, so join the-AFC.com as we review the week’s action from across East Asia.

Urawa Red Diamonds: The new arrivals

Fri, 14 Apr, 2023

Urawa Red Diamonds: The new arrivals

Saitama: It's been eight months since Urawa Red Diamonds edged Korea Republic's Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors on penalties to book a place in the final of the AFC Champions League™ 2022. With the eagerly awaited title clash against Al Hilal SFC now on the horizon, a lot has changed at the Japanese outfit since that memorable semi-final last August. 

The two-time Asian champions initially progressed behind K League 1 side Daegu FC from a group that also featured Singapore's Lion City Sailors and China PR's Shandong Taishan before overcoming Malaysia's Johor Darul Ta'zim and Thailand's BG Pathum United in the knockout stages to book the last-four tie against Jeonbuk.  
 
Key players have departed and others have arrived at Saitama Stadium since then and there is also a new head coach in charge. So, ahead of the first leg of the final at Riyadh's King Fahd International Stadium on April 29, the-AFC.com looks at the new faces at Urawa Red Diamonds.

#ACL2022 Final: The Venues

Sat, 15 Apr, 2023

#ACL2022 Final: The Venues

Kuala Lumpur: The two legs of the AFC Champions League™ 2022 Final will take place at two of Asia’s most iconic football venues: King Fahd International Stadium and Saitama Stadium.

As Al Hilal SFC and Urawa Red Diamonds get set to renew one of Asia’s greatest rivalries by meeting in the final for the third time in six editions, their respective stadiums offer the perfect settings for the continent’s biggest club game. 
 
With the first leg set to take place in the Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh on April 29 and the return meeting slated for Saitama Stadium in Saitama on May 6, the-AFC.com takes a closer look at the two venues. 

Koroki: Stronger-than-ever Al Hilal will be Urawa’s toughest test

Thu, 13 Apr, 2023

Koroki: Stronger-than-ever Al Hilal will be Urawa’s toughest test

Saitama: Shinzo Koroki may have played no part in Urawa Red Diamonds’ run to the AFC Champions League™ 2022 final but the veteran striker is under no illusion that opponents Al Hilal SFC provide the biggest obstacle yet in the Japanese club’s bid to become three-time Asian champions. 

Having spent nine years at Urawa, playing in two continental finals and winning one of them, Koroki was loaned out to Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo for the 2022 campaign and thus missed his parent club’s march to a fourth AFC Champions League finale. 

Al Hilal ready to fight for title, says Al Faraj

Thu, 13 Apr, 2023

Al Hilal ready to fight for title, says Al Faraj

Riyadh: Al Hilal SFC captain Salman Al Faraj is in a race against time as he tries to recover from injury to lead his boyhood club in their defence of the  AFC Champions League™ title when they take on Urawa Red Diamonds in the 2022 final.

The 33-year-old midfielder is also pursuing a personal record as he aims to join an elite group of players to appear in five AFC Champions League finals; a feat he could share with teammates Salem Al Dawsari, Yasser Al Shahrani and goalkeeper Abdullah Al Mayouf.
 
The quartet represented Al Hilal in the 2014 and 2017 finals which they lost to Western Sydney Wanderers and Urawa respectively, before picking up the trophy against Urawa in 2019 and against Pohang Steelers in 2021, while Al Mayouf only joined Al Hilal in 2015, but had already appeared in the 2012 final in Al Ahli Saudi colours.