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For the first time since Australia’s move into Asia, we have three teams representing us on the continental stage: Brisbane Roar, Central Coast Mariners and Adelaide United
With Adelaide being the only Australian team to have made an impact in this tournament, many will be interested to see how the A-League’s best teams from the 2010-11 season stack up against the competition.
Group E sees Adelaide along with Gamba Osaka of Japan, Bunyodkor of Uzbekistan and either the Pohang Steelers of South Korea or Chonburi of Thiland.
This provides a re-match of both the 2008 Champions League Final and a game from the FIFA Club World Cup later that year between Adelaide and Gamba, with Gamba winning the two legged final as well as their later meeting.
Gamba managed to finish third in the league in the most recent season, as well as reching the round of 16 of the champions league, which included a win and a draw against Melbourne Victory.
Bunyodkor are an anomaly to be competing in this group, with the Uzbekistan teams normally participating in the western part of the draw. They won the Uzbek League last season, and were also semi-finalists of the 2008 Champions League when they were knocked out by… wait for it, Adelaide in the semi-final three goals to one.
The two other sides that may fill the last spot (Chonburri and Pohang) are also well known to Australian audiences. If Pohang make it through, it will mean that all three of the teams in the group came up against Adelaide in the 2008 edition, with United recording twin victories at home and away to finish top of the group. The Steelers finished third in the 2011 K-League, and did not participate in the Champions League.
Chonburri also competed in the 2008 Champions League, but finished bottom of the group with five points. They managed to defeat Melbourne Victory 3-1, though victory reversed the result back in Melbourne, recording a victory by the same score line.
The expected outcome in this group depends on the outcome of the playoff, as Pohang will be expected to put up greater competition than their Thai rivals.
Saying this though I would see it as most likely that Gamba Osaka and Bunyodkor will progress, as Adelaide have lost influential players such as Matthew Leckie since their last tilt at Asia’s premier club competition. Opponents will have to be weary of the inform Sergio van Dijk, who has been in rare form since the return of John Kosmina.
Brisbane Roar is in Group F up against Ulsan Hyundai of South Korea, FC Tokyo from Japans capital and Beijing Guoan from the capital of China.
Both Bejing and Tokyo have just had Australian internationals depart from their ranks, with Jade North leaving from FC Tokyo and Joel Griffiths going from Beijing to partner Nicolas Anelka at Shanghai Shenua.
Brisbane is the reigning champions of the A-League, and embarked on an unforgettable unbeaten run of 36 matches. This will be Brisbane’s first foray into Asia, and may help to convince the new Indonesian owners that they should receive serious investment in the form of a marquee player.
The key for the Roar is whether Thomas Broich can bring back the form of the last year, as whilst he was out injured they were unable to control the midfield as they had when he was on the park. Also important are leading goal scorers Mitch Nichols and Besart Berisha, who have 17 goals between them.
Interestingly, Brisbane will likely have to leave out Canadian Issey Nakajima-Farran due to the AFC regulation allowing only four overseas players, with one player having to be from an AFC member country.
FC Tokyo is the champions of the most recent J2-League and qualified as a result of their triumph in the Emperors Cup. Tokyo is defiantly the underdogs of the group, with this being their debut into the Champions League.
Opponents will need to find a way to get past Japanese international Yasuyuki Konno, who despite playing in J2 managed 15 appearances for the Blue Samurai, including the 2011 Asian Cup.
Chinese outfit Beijing Guoan will have to cope with the loss of their top scorer for the last few seasons, Australian Joel Griffiths. Guoan finished second in the league, 15 points behind runaway leader Guangzhou. Despite not participating in the 2011 version of the ACL, they are a team which has had much experience in the competition.
In 2010, they reached the round of 16 before being eliminated by Korea’s Suwon Samsung Bluewings after finishing second in the group stage which involved both a win and a loss against the Melbourne Victory.
Korea’s Ulsan Hyundai qualified for the 2012 Asian Champions League as runners up of the 2011 K-League Championship. They finished sixth in the league, though they managed to reach the final of the playoffs which are much the same as those in the A-League. The main danger for defenders is undoubtedly Kim Shin-Wook, who scored 19 goals in all appearances as well as being included in the South Korea squad for the Asian Cup.
This will be a close group, though FC Tokyo may be expected to not fare as well as they hope. I would expect Brisbane Roar to lead the pack, with Ulsan Hyundai narrowly edging out Beijing Guoan.
The Central Coast Mariners are all set to enter the AFC Asian Champions league for 2012. This edition will be the 31st edition, and the second time the Mariners have taken part in Asia’s premier club competition. They have been matched up with a team from each of East Asia’s main leagues, Tianjinn Teda of China, Koreans Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma and finally Japan’s Nagoya Grampus. The first game in this group will see the Mariners travel to China on March 7th.
Central Coast will be confident leading into this campaign, as they sit comfortably top of the A-League table. Last year’s runners up in both the league and finals series sit in a group with a distinctive Australian feel. However, the Mariners form has been shaky recently, having to overcome several deficits.
The loss of talisman striker Matt Simon to the K-League will be a big loss to them, and if they make it through to the Round of 16, they will lose Mustafa Amini who will return to parent club Borussia Dortmund.
Seongnam are a former winner of the tournament, triumphing twice in 1996 and most recently 2010. They are captained by Socceroo defender Sasa Ognenovski, who won the man of the match in the 2010 victory.
Seongnam had a disappointing 2011, finishing 10th in the league, and only qualifying as winners of the Korean FA Cup, with the big Aussie defender finishing the season as second top scorer with 7 goals in all competitions. The man to watch out for though is Cho Dong-Geon, with the South Korean international scoring leading the scoring with 11 goals in all competitions.
Next up are Nagoya Grampus, who finished a close second in the J-League, finishing behind Kashiwa Reysol by only one point. They also reached the round of 16 of the 2011 Champions League, as well as Semi- Final and Quarter- Final appearances in Japans two domestic cups.
Nagoya has a fearsome forward line, with three players scoring over 10 goals. The biggest threat though is Australia’s Josh Kennedy, who has been prolific at both club and international level, finishing with 19 goals in all competitions for Nagoya, picking up the J-League Golden Boot award.
Last but not least are Tianjinn Teda, coming up from 10th position in the league, but like Seongnam qualified as winners of the Chinese FA Cup. They appeared in last year’s Champions League as a result of a second place finish in the 2010 Chinese Super League, reaching the round of 16.
During this, they faced Melbourne Victory twice, drawing 1-1 at home and losing 1-2 in Melbourne.
With this in mind, I believe that Nagoya will top the group with the Mariners also qualifying as a close second. Seongnam and Tianjinn are inconsistent teams, and on their day they have shown over the last year that they can provide an upset, though their poor league record leads me to believe that the two runners up in their respective competitions in Nagoya and the Central Coast will be there in the round of 16.
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