JEDDAH: Seongnam Ilhwa of South Korea and Zobahan of Iran reached the Asian Champions League (ACL) final Wednesday. Seongnam Ilhwa beat Saudi Al-Shabab 1-0 at home and advanced on away goals while Zobahan of Iran stunned host Al-Hilal of Saudi Arabia 1-0 to book its place with a 2-0 aggregate win. Al-Shabab won the first leg of the semifinals 4-3 in Saudi Arabia. Cho Dong-keon's first-half strike Wednesday leveled the overall score at 4-4, and sent Seongnam into the final at Tokyo on Nov. 13. It was a deserved win for the 1996 Asian champion as the Saudi side struggled to create opportunities at Tancheon Sports Complex. Seongnam took the lead in the 31st minute. Dzenan Radoncic headed on a long pass and Cho reached the ball on the edge of the box before goalkeeper Waleed Abdullah and shot into the roof of the net. Al-Shabab needed 63 minutes to trouble Jung Sung-ryong in the Seongnam goal. Jung made an impressive double save, denying a well-struck Nasser Al-Shamrani shot and then reacting quickly to save Abdullah Suhail's attempt from the rebound. Seongnam could have taken the lead in the third minute had the linesman not raised an off-side flag against a Korean striker. The Korean team made two more serious efforts before going ahead. Al-Hilal controlled the ball in the first half but was unable to break down Zobahan's resilient defense. In the second half, Zobahan's Igor Castro took advantage of Osama Hawsawi's defensive error to score in the 54th minute. Al-Hilal tried to fight back, with Mohammed Al-Shalhoub bending a 25-yard free kick just over the bar and Mirel Radoi forcing a good save from goalkeeper Shahab Gordan. But minutes later, Al-Hilal's Lee Young-pyo was sent off for a kick at Mohammad Reza Khalatbari, ending any chance that the Saudi team had for a comeback. Al-Hilal made one last charge, with substitute Waleed Al-Gizani sending a diving header from close range straight at Gordan before his weak flick was easily claimed by the Zobahan keeper. Hilal players failed to bring smiles to the faces of 68,752 fans in the stadium with a win. They could not unlock the Iranian defense, which kept a close check on Hilal strikers - Yasser Al-Qahtani and Eissa Al-Muhayani. Even when Hilal midfielders tried to reach their strikers cutting through the Iranian depth, the opponent's defenders blocked their paths.
