AFC Champions League 2017 - Archive News

With the AFC Champions League, the AFC Cup and international football to take a break until early 2017, join the-AFC.com as we look back on a November that will live long in the memory.

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Air Force Club retain the AFC Cup

Below are the full list of nominees with the winner in bold:

1. Rafael Silva (Al Hilal vs Urawa Red Diamonds)
2. Omar Khribin (**Al Hilal** vs Urawa Red Diamonds)
3. Rafael Silva (Urawa Red Diamonds vs Al Hilal)

Watch Khribin’s winner and the two other goals in the video below. 

Just as in the first leg, which ended 1-1, Al Hilal gave a good account of themselves, but ultimately couldn’t turn their dominance of the ball into clear chances, and were again punished by the clinical Rafael Silva.

Defensive discipline key for Reds

The three selected goals from this week are as follows:

1. Rafael Silva (Al Hilal vs Urawa Red Diamonds)
2. Omar Khribin (Al Hilal vs Urawa Red Diamonds)
3. Rafael Silva (Urawa Red Diamonds vs Al Hilal)

Watch the video below and place your vote at the AFC Champions League’s official Facebook or Twitter accounts and the winner will be announced on Monday, 27 November. 

A decade ago, Abe was in the line-up alongside the likes of Yuichiro Nagai, Robson Ponte and Keita Suzuki as Urawa defeated IR Iran's Sepahan 3-1 on aggregate to lift Japan's first AFC Champions League.

And it was he, this time as captain, who lifted the Saitama club's second continental title high into the night's sky after a 1-0 win over Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia secured a 2-1 aggregate victory.

"I was so happy 10 years ago and I’m so happy this time too," said a delighted Abe, who is in his second spell at the club after a stint at Leicester City.

"The whole team fought really together to achieve this - I'm just so happy we've become Asian champions for a second time."

The tour before the AFC Champions League Final 2017 between Urawa Red Diamonds (Japan) and Al Hilal (Saudi Arabia) on Saturday was aimed at providing an overview of the AFC match day venue set up.

The main focus of the tour included hospitality facilities in VVIP and VIP areas, broadcast and media facilities, pitch and competition zones, stadium perimeter and surroundings before the match.

Representatives from the Local Organising Committees of the next two big competitions – AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 and AFC U-23 Championship China 2018, as well as CEOs of AFC Champions League Participating Member Association League were part of the tour.

The Saudi side failed to cut out Yuki Muto’s pass and the 25-year-old Brazilian surged into the penalty area before unleashing a vicious shot that screamed past Abdullah Al Mayoof in the Al Hilal goal.

The goal was Silva’s ninth of the competition, just one behind the 2017 AFC Champions League Top Scorer Omar Khribin of Al Hilal, with the former Albirex Niigata forward having also scored in the first leg in Riyadh a week earlier.

“Of course, scoring a goal in a final like this is huge – it’s a wonderful thing,” said Silva, after the match.

“But I feel like I just made a contribution of a few percentage.”

Rafael Silva was again the match winner as the Brazilian’s strike with two minutes left on the clock added to his opener in the 1-1 first-leg draw last week as he finished with nine goals for the tournament.

The victory capped a memorable three months for Hori, who replaced the outgoing Mihailo Petrovic prior to the quarter-finals and then guided Urawa to wins over Kawasaki Frontale, Shanghai SIPG and Al Hilal as the J.League team added to their 2007 title.

“The players had a special motivation for this tournament, as did the supporters, so I think this is why we were able to do so well,” said Hori.

“I would also like to thank the supporters, who gave their best, but also Petrovic who built the foundations of the team, and I learned from him.”

“We were very prepared for our opponents today after studying them a lot.”

A late Rafael Silva goal consigned Al Hilal to a 1-0 defeat in the second leg of the final in Saitama, having came into the match on the back of a 1-1 draw in Riyadh.

The Argentinian admitted his side should have done better in the first leg to give themselves a chance of winning the title.

“Maybe we lost our chance here in Tokyo after missing so many chances in Riyadh. It was a dream to be here and we did well all the way through tournament,” reflected Diaz.

“I want to congratulate Urawa for winning the cup. I am really satisfied with my players. They performed very well, and I am proud of everyone at the club.”

Kashiwagi and his side came out on top for the seventh successive time at home in the AFC Champions League when, following a 1-1 draw in Riyadh in the first leg a week earlier, Rafael Silva netted his ninth goal of the tournament in the 88th minute to settle matters at the tournament’s finale hosted at the Saitama Stadium.

While it was Yuki Muto, not Kashiwagi, who played the assist for Silva’s winner, the 29-year-old Japan international has been in impressive form throughout the tournament, particularly in the knockout stages where he laid on a number of goals for his teammates, and also scored a vital goal in the semi-finals against Shanghai SIPG.

“While I don’t think I deserve this award, I am, of course, very honoured to receive this recognition,” said Kashiwagi.

“I am very flattered and proud. I will certainly do my best to honour this award.”

The former Sanfrecce Hiroshima star was, however, quick to deflect the praise and acclaim his fellow Urawa Reds players and their loyal supporters who packed the stands in Saitama.

Indeed, the Reds finish the tournament with a 100 percent record in Japan after ending Al Hilal’s impressive 13-game unbeaten streak.

“A lot of our success is due to the way we came together as a team,” he added.

“The communication under [coach Takafumi] Hori has been very good and we learnt a lot in this tournament, playing a lot of very good teams.

“We didn’t play so well away from home, but very well at home.

“For me, this is due to the way the Reds' supporters encouraged us and cheered us on.

“It is like our fans and the team came together as one and were able to win the AFC Champions League title.”

Photo: AFP

Khribin scored in the first leg of the final against Urawa in Riyadh last Saturday as Al Hilal drew 1-1 with the Japanese side, although injury forced the striker off after an hour of the return fixture and the Saudi giants ultimately lost 2-1 on aggregate.

But the disappointment of defeat in the final takes nothing away from Khribin’s performances throughout the competition as the forward helped fire his side to a second final in four years and in doing so, became one of the most talked about players on the continent.

Khribin scored his first goal of the 2017 AFC Champions League in Al Hilal’s 2-2 Matchday Three draw with the United Arab Emirates’ Al Wahda, before he added a brace, including a late winner, in a 4-3 victory over Qatar’s Al Rayyan as the Riyadh side topped the group.

It was in the knockout rounds, though, that Khribin really started to grab the headlines as he again scored a match-winning strike in the 2-1 win over Esteghlal Khouzestan in the second leg of the Round of 16 as Al Hilal won 4-3 on aggregate.