Matthias Jaissle said Al Ahli Saudi’s extraordinary fanbase had driven them to create history by defending the AFC Champions League Elite title.
Feras Al Brikan’s goal in the sixth minute of extra-time was enough to give them victory over Japan’s Machida Zelvia at a pulsating King Abdullah Sports City Stadium on Saturday night.
After the victory was sealed, the club’s players and officials went by open-top bus for a victory parade at Jeddah’s corniche.
Even though it was the small hours of Sunday morning, on the first day of the working week, there were thousands of supporters present.
Jaissle, the coach, was right to point out they were celebrating history. A year on from becoming Asian champions for the first time, Ahli had become only the second side to defend the title in the Champions League era.
Poignantly for them, the only other side to achieve that feat had been their fierce city rivals, Al Ittihad.
“We are really, really proud of what the team achieved this year, how every player was committed for that journey to win that trophy was unbelievable,” Jaissle said.
“I think this year was special because we needed to overcome many more obstacles along the way and how these guys were handling it was just on a really, really high level.
“Everyone can be really proud of, obviously also a part of it was that we played here in Jeddah in front of our fans.
“They could push us, they could give us extra motivation and energy, and we did it again, back to back, which is something historical.”
For the second time in the knock-out stage of this competition, Ahli had to force victory while down to 10-men.
In the second half, Zakaria Hawsawi was sent off for a horrific headbutt on Tete Yengi, the Machida striker.
Al Brikan, who had been a second half substitute, said Ahli’s fans had dragged them through to the title.
“[We had] one player less, but the spectators and the fans were supporting us every minute throughout the match,” Al Brikan said.
“We are very grateful to their support and their support from the beginning to end. We are grateful to God and, thank you all, the AFC Champions League title is still in Jeddah.”
The result finally ended the fairytale run of the Japanese side. Machida are from a satellite district of Tokyo, and are a long way from being the biggest club in Japan’s capital city.
They were only promoted to the top-flight of Japanese football for the first time last season, qualifying for the Champions League Elite at the first attempt.
Their remarkable rise has been overseen by a coach who had been in charge of a high school football team for 28 years before making the switch to the pro game aged 52.
Given the circumstances, Go Kuroda, said his side should be pleased with their achievement of making the final.
“I think being the runner-up is a result to be proud of,” Kuroda, the coach, said. “It is only through these experiences that we can truly build up our experience as a club, and of course, this applies to all of us staff, the manager, staff, and players.
“I believe these things build up so that we must take this seriously and challenge ourselves to take the next step.
“Every club will inevitably go through this experience, no team advances without taking risks, so we'll accept this and move forward to the next challenge.”
