GUANGZHOU, China // Cosmin Olaroiu backed his Al Ahli side to come back stronger after narrowly losing the Asian Champions League final to Guangzhou Evergrande.
The Dubai club, contesting the knockout stages for the first time, were beaten 1-0 on aggregate by their Chinese rivals following yesterday’s single-goal defeat in the second leg at Tianhe Stadium. Elkeson, Guangzhou’s Brazilian forward, scored the decisive goal in the 52nd minute.
Ahli finished the match with 10 men when Salmeen Khamis was shown a straight red card on 66 minutes for an apparent stamp on Zheng Long.
Khamis was found wanting for the goal, too. Elkeson swivelled in the Ahli area, let the ball run through Khamis and slotted past Ahmed Dida in the visiting goal to leave the majority of the 42,499 fans in the Tianhe celebrating at the final whistle.
However, Olaroiu praised his players in the immediate aftermath, saying Ahli can bounce back from the disappointment to ensure they return a better team in the future. “Even with 10 men we tried to play, we tried to score,” he said. “We fought until the end, until the last second, and this makes me very, very proud of my players.
“They have done a fantastic job. Even if they don’t win the trophy, they make a very good image for UAE football. They deserve to be here and they deserve what they get.
“Of course, it’s not easy to lose in the final. But it’s a point from where we have to start.
“We see some limits today, we see some problems. Only these kinds of games show us how strong we are. It’s not the end of the journey. It’s the point from where we have to start to fix the problems.”
[Guangzhou v Al Ahli — Asian Champions League final second leg as it happened]
Olaroiu said he did not have a clear view of the incident that prompted Khamis’s sending off, given he was contesting another decision with the fourth official. The defender then refused to leave the pitch and had to be restrained by substitute goalkeeper Majed Naser and members of the Ahli back room staff. From there, Ahli had some opportunities to score with Rodrigo Lima spurning their best chance with 13 minutes remaining.
A goal for the visitors would have sealed the title on the away-goals rule. “It’s difficult with 10 men and we didn’t have the solution,” Olaroiu said.
“It shouldn’t happen because it’s a very strong team — we should have known that they are superior in this moment.
“Our job was then much more difficult.
“But we tried, we pushed, we did everything possible to come back and score.
“If we scored from the chances we had after, it would be difficult for Guangzhou to then score two, but unfortunately we couldn’t do it.”
Ahli were seeking to become only the second UAE club to win the Champions League, after Al Ain in 2003.
They had never progressed beyond the group stages in five previous attempts, in contrast to Guangzhou, who two years ago captured the continental trophy. Late last month, the Chinese side were crowned domestic champions for the fifth season in a row.
“As I told you, in the beginning nobody believed we could achieve this,” Olaroiu said.
“With hard work and with a lot of sacrifices, we made it. Now we show some limits and from here we have to start to build.
“In this kind of game you can see many things, and a few of them I noticed.
“And also, Guangzhou have built a team that for five consecutive years reached the title, two times the Champions League. We have to see, to take a lesson, to learn and to improve for the future.”
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