Kuala Lumpur: With the identity of the 2017 AFC Champions League finalists due to be revealed next week upon the conclusion of the final four, we flashback to the inaugural final 14 years ago on this day, October 11, when Emirati side Al Ain were crowned the first winners of the AFC Champions League following the tournament’s revamp.
The Garden City side faced off against Thailand’s BEC Tero Sasana in a pair of exciting ties with Bruno Metsu’s team ultimately going on to become the United Arab Emirates’ first continental champions.
Road to the final
Prior to 2002, the Asian Club Championship was the continent’s most prestigious club competition. Never before had an Emirati team appeared in the final, while the previous nine editions had seen only one West Asian winner – Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal in 1999-2000.
Al Ain had earlier claimed top spot in Group C after successive wins over Al Hilal, Qatar’s Al Sadd and Esteghlal of the Islamic Republic of Iran saw them advance to the semi-finals.
Paired with China’s Dalian Shide, Al Ain won the first leg 4-2 at Tahnoun Bin Mohammed Stadium before enduring a nerve-wracking return fixture in East Asia.
Trailing 4-2 and with the tie set for extra-time, Iran international Farhad Majidi scored the all-important goal with three minutes remaining as the Emiratis progressed to the final 7-6 on aggregate.
As for BEC Tero Sasana, the Thais were looking to emulate compatriots Thai Farmers Bank who had won back-to-back Asian Club Championships a decade earlier.
The Bangkok-based side ended up topping a tough Group A that featured Daejeon Citizen of Korea Republic, China's Shanghai Shenhua and Kashima Antlers of Japan.
BEC Tero Sasana then edged Uzbekistan side Pakhtakor 3-2 on aggregate in the semi-finals.
Worrawoot Srimaka, Kwanchai Fuangprakob and Therdsak Chaiman were all on target in a 3-1 first leg win at Suphachalasai Stadium that proved enough for the Thai club despite a 1-0 reversal in Tashkent with Server Djeparov on target for the hosts.
The first leg: Al Ain seize the initiative
“The team led by Bruno [Metsu] was very good, fantastic, with such dedicated players,” said then assistant coach and club top scorer Ahmed Abdullah.
“We had won the national championship and next we were playing in the Asian competition. Things were going so smoothly but then the semi-final was a very tense experience.”
In the final, Al Ain were again at home first and they opened the scoring through Salem Jowhar’s first-half goal.
BEC Tero Sasana’s Wittaya Nubthong then saw red shortly after the hour before Mohammed Omar added a second as Metsu’s side took a commanding 2-0 lead into the second leg.
The second leg: Therdsak shines but Emiratis hold out
An expectant crowd poured into Rajamangala Stadium for the second leg in Bangkok, watching with bated breath as BEC Tero Sasana tried to become just the second ASEAN side to be crowned an Asian champion.
The hosts dominated proceedings from the get go but they found Al Ain tough to crack. The tension was palpable as chances came and went without the scoreline changing.
But there was plenty of drama to come after Therdsak scored from the spot on the hour to ensure a nervy final 30 minutes in which Peeratat Phoruandee had a goal disallowed as Al Ain ultimately held out.
“The experience from the outside in that final 30 minutes was very difficult,” admitted Abdullah. “But for the players on the pitch it would have been much worse. The team played well and defended so strongly to win the competition but it was not easy.
“When we returned home we received a fantastic reception. The prime minister and many government officials were at the airport to greet us. After that we went to Sheikh Khalifa’s residence – it was like a dream but it was real.”
What happened next?
Al Ain have since been regulars in the AFC Champions League and have returned to the final on two occasions, in 2005 and more recently last year, but both times were edged out by Saudi Arabia’s Al Ittihad and Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors of Korea Republic respectively.
In this year's tournament they were eliminated at the quarter-final stage by Al Hilal after a 0-0 draw in Al Ain was followed by a 3-0 reversal in Riyadh.
BEC Tero Sasana did appear at the next two editions of the AFC Champions League, although they were unable to re-live the high standards they had set themselves, crashing out in the 2004 and 2005 group stages.
Since then, they have been absent from the prestigious tournament with, instead, the likes of Buriram United, Chonburi and, more recently, Muangthong United bearing the flag for Thailand on the continent.
Photos: Lagardère Sports
Source: the-afc.com