▲ In this file photo from Oct. 20, 2021, Pohang Steelers players celebrate their victory over Ulsan Hyundai FC on penalties in the semifinals of the Asian Football Confederation Champions League at Jeonju World Cup Stadium in Jeonju, 240 kilometers south of Seoul. (Yonhap)
▲ This file photo provided by the Korea Professional Football League on Sept. 21, 2021, shows Pohang Steelers head coach Kim Gi-dong. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
▲ This EPA file photo from May 30, 2021, shows members of Al Hilal celebrating their Saudi Professional League title at King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh. (Yonhap)

football club-tournament

Pohang facing uphill battle in AFC Champions League final

By Yoo Jee-ho

SEOUL, Nov. 22 (Yonhap) -- Pohang Steelers will try to win the most important match of their season without a couple of key players, when they take on the Saudi club Al Hilal in the final of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League this week.

The showdown between the pair of three-time champions will kick off at 7 p.m. Tuesday at King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh, or 1 a.m. Wednesday in Korean time.

The winner of this one-and-done match will bag US$4 million and qualify for the FIFA Club World Cup scheduled for early next year in the United Arab Emirates.

Pohang and Al Hilal have each won three AFC titles, tied for first in that category. Pohang will try to become the back-to-back AFC champions from the K League, after Ulsan Hyundai FC reached the summit last year.

Pohang's head coach, Kim Gi-dong, played on their most recent AFC championship squad in 2009. He'll try to become just the second South Korean to win the continental club title both as a player and a head coach.

Kim will be without the services of midfielder Lee Seung-mo and goalkeeper Kang Hyeon-mu. Lee wasn't allowed to leave the country after having failed to fulfill his community service hours requirement upon receiving a military service exemption with a gold medal at the 2018 Asian Games. Kang underwent season-ending ankle surgery in October.

For offense, Pohang will look to striker Lim Sang-hyub, who has scored four times so far at the tournament and leads the club with 10 goals in the K League 1. Veteran midfielder Sin Jin-ho is going for his second straight AFC title after winning it all as a member of Ulsan Hyundai FC in 2020.

Al Hilal feature South Korean-born defender Jang Hyun-soo as well as former Europe-based players, like Bafetimbi Gomis, Matheus Pereira and Moussa Marega.

Since making his AFC Champions League debut in 2019, Gomis has scored 17 goals, more than anybody in the competition in that time span.

"We've overcome some challenges to reach the final," Kim, the Pohang coach, said at a press conference last week before the club departed for Saudi Arabia. "We want to put a nice finishing touch and give our fans a big present."

Pohang will be playing at a hostile and intimidating environment in the Saudi Arabian capital, but Kim said his players won't be fazed by the atmosphere.

"We're going to wear our logo with pride," Kim said. "And we'll regard local Saudi Arabian fans as ours and have fun in the final."

Clubs were divided into West and East regions based on their locations and played through the semifinals on their respective side of the bracket.

Al Hilal finished second in Group A and reached the knockout stages as the third-best No. 2 seed in the West Region They eliminated Esteghlal 2-0 in the round of 16 and then blanked the 2020 runners-up Persepolis 3-0 in the quarterfinals. Al Hilal then beat Al Nassr 2-1 in the all-Saudi semifinals.

Pohang also got into the knockouts as the third-best team among group runners-up in the East Region. Pohang then beat Cerezo Osaka 1-0 in the round of 16 and Nagoya Grampus 3-0 in the quarterfinals.

In the semifinals, Pohang beat the defending champs Ulsan 5-4 in the penalty shootout.

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