South Korea's Pohang Steelers won the Asian Champions League title Saturday, beating Saudi Arabia's Al Ittihad 2-1 in the final for a record third continental title.
Pohang forward No Byung Jun scored from a free kick in the 57th minute, with his shot finding a gap in the Saudi wall.
Nine minutes later, Kim Jae Sung's free kick found defender Kim Hyung Il, who headed into the top left corner to set Pohang on its way to a place in the Club World Cup, where it will join the likes of Barcelona.
Al Ittihad, also going for its third Asian title, pulled a goal back in the 74th minute when Mohammed Noor poked the ball home after Korean goalkeeper Shin Hwa Yong could only parry a close-range header from Tunisian international Amine Chermiti.
Both sides threatened in the closing minutes of the match at Tokyo's National Stadium, but the Saudi side _ dubbed "K-League Killers" by Korean media for its past mastery of South Korean clubs _ failed to find an equalizer.
"It was a tough match. The quality of Al Ittisad's play is very high," said Sergio Farias, Pohang's Brazilian coach. "In the second half, we were able to regain control of the ball, but they marked us closely. Probably their weakness was that they didn't do well against our set pieces."
Al Ittihad coach Gabriel Calderon said: "We were able to create a lot of opportunities, but we weren't able to capitalize.
"I'm very satisfied with the quality of play my team demonstrated. We did lose, but our players showed what a Saudi team is capable of."
Al Ittihad nearly scored several times in the first half, including a searing free kick from Hicham Aboucherouane that keeper Shin leaped far to his left to punch out of the way, while Noor created a chance for Chermiti from close range _ only for Pohang captain Hwang Jae Won to make a sliding tackle to clear the danger.
The victory for Pohang added to its titles in 1997 and 1998.
It was the first Asian Champions League title to be decided by a one-off match, having been over two legs since the format started in 2003.
Al Ittihad, considered the slight favorite entering the match, had previously dominated Korean clubs.
In 2004, the Saudi side eliminated Jeonbuk Motors in the semifinals. The first leg of the final with Seongnam Chunma ended with a 3-1 home loss but in the most famous turnaround in Asian club soccer history Al Ittihad won 5-0 in the second leg. The Saudi side then thrashed Busan I'Park on its way to the 2005 title.
With no Japanese team in the final, Tokyo's National Stadium was about half-full for the match, given that Asian football fans rarely travel overseas in large numbers to support their team.
Several hundred red-clad Pohang fans chanted, beat drums and waved flags at one end of the stadium, while a smaller group of Al Ittihad supporters wearing yellow-and-black cheered at the other.
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