Western Sydney Wanderers have become the first A-League side to win the Asian Champions League after a scoreless draw against Saudi Arabian club Al-Hilal.
Played in front of a capacity, boisterous crowd at King Fahd Stadium, Tony Popovic’s side withstood a procession of chances to complete a fairytale ride to the top of Asian football.
In just their third season of football, the Wanderers lifted the trophy 1-0 on aggregate after Tomi Juric’s goal earned them a home win at Parramatta in the first leg last weekend.
While Western Sydney deserve great credit for their defensive resilience, it was hard to make a case to wave away two penalty decisions either side of half time.
When Antony Golec stretched and found Nawaf Al-Abid rather than the ball, it seemed the roaring crowd would have their penalty.
But the decision didn’t come, incensing Al-Hilal boss Laurentiu Reghecampf.
Japanese referee Nishimura Yuichi again kept his whistle from his lips on the hour when Ante Covic clearly slid in on Salman Al Faraj.
The result felt like a robbery, with Covic and his defensive four standing tall to repel chance after chance.
The match quickly settled into a predictable pattern of Al-Hilal possession and territory.
By design or otherwise, the Wanderers found themselves without and behind the ball, but they were tightly organised and able to prevent Al-Hilal from finding dangerous outlets.
Al-Hilal’s best first half opportunities came from free kicks and through sheer weight of numbers after the break.
When Al-Hilal’s forwards, led by Brazilian Thiago Neves, did have opportunities, too often they failed to test the 39-year-old gloveman.
That changed in the final quarter hour with Al-Hilal streaming forward but finding Covic in unbeatable form.
In a vintage display, Covic’s best came with five minutes remaining, denying substitute Yasser Al Qahtani’s thunderous drive from ten metres with a stunning reflex save to turn it around the post.
That the Wanderers were able to grind out a result was made more impressive by the ferocious environment.
Lasers continually shone in Covic’s eyes, the crowd becoming more restless as the match wore on.
But Western Sydney held out, prevailing where the only other A-League team to make the ACL final, Adelaide United, could not.
The result is especially sweet for Popovic’s side, denied in two A-League grand finals on their first two attempts.
On the last whistle, both the winners and defeated slumped on the ground, drained of all energy.
That quickly gave way to a release of frustration, with rivals involved in late fisticuffs.
JR Salazar
Guest
Melbourne Victory supporter here. Good result. I like Nassir Al-Shamrani's brain explosion after the game. Sums up his career quite nicely.
Bill
Guest
The ref may have been reluctant to point to the spot because of the army of Al-Hilal supporters pointing lasers at Covic's eyes. No clean hands, no penalty - that is quality reffing right there! Al-Hilal should have scored from free play if they wanted to win - or put away the lasers if they wanted a spot kick.
Bondy
Guest
I notice Fox Sports's new channels why would they have Football all the way down on Fox Sports 4 , I'd suggest no other sport delivers as much live content as to what Football does another unusual decision for mine ....
Albert
Guest
Even the football heavies at my work are embarrassed by this game and referee and they were barracking hard for WSW. A good win but jeez you have to wonder...If the positions were reversed and WSW hadn't got those penalties and lost, there would be riots and a call for an enquiry into the officiating - that is the test..
Belmore eel
Guest
69k on fox and 4k at live site
yewonk
Guest
Who is coming to the airport tonight.
Bondy
Guest
Drive By's will be back at Kingsford Smith at 10.30 pm tonight ....
Post hoc
Guest
Evidence or shut up
Post hoc
Guest
yet we won 1-0
micka
Guest
Not that you were worried though... right? Win a continental comp and you're comparing them to the AFL... Truly a fairy tale story only three years between inception and continental dominance. A massive effort and well earned.
pete4
Guest
Very impressive jb your spot on correct. Cheers
Soulwaker
Guest
I think you were absolutely right. the ref knew about the lasers and could not do anything so he said'stuff them' !!! :-)
Ginger71
Guest
parking the bus wont win us respect from other nations, nor will winning because of poor refereeing decisions. Covic played brilliantly and may have saved the penalties, we will never know. But imo it was a win, but not a good win. A good win to me comes from playing good football and good football isnt having 11 players in defense.
AZ_RBB
Guest
I think special mention must be given to Southampton and what they have achieved in the lop sided world of English football. They have risen 67 spots in the English football ladder in just a few short years. All whilst losing most of their best players to richer clubs.
Bondy
Guest
Ian The two scenarios are/ were completely different Schwarzer was in a pen shootout " additional time " Covic's feats were in open play or prior to the full 90 min's . Both great feats of goalkeeping personally, both had National and International significance for this great Nation of ours....
Franko
Guest
There was some mention of Brian Clough before and his achievements at Forrest, the following link may be appropriate at this juncture: http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2013/dec/11/nottingham-forest-anderlecht-match-fixing-scandal-1984 The comments below also make for grim reading. I'm actually surprised at your naïveté Fuss. Congrats to WSW, they did all they could do an, most likely unknowingly, they got some help along the way.
AZ_RBB
Guest
Haha! Actually I should thank Fox Sports for handing out some cold weather gear and saving silly ol me from freezing in my t-shirt haha. Juric was saying he found nearly a dozen channels dedicated to football when he got to his hotel room. For me, that is the difference between the position of Australian fans and others around the world. Al-Hilal winning the ACL would have had a marginal impact on the popularity of the game in Saudi. Whereas all Australians fan can at least celebrate the contribution this may make to the success of the game locally.
Post hoc
Guest
I better question would be to ask Franko for some money, because if he suspected a fix, surely he would have put some hard earned on it, and would be significantly better off now. But I suspect not lol
ciudadmarron
Guest
nothing hollow about either of those ian. well, maybe a little bit last year - except that they were far better in their approach to the Brisbane game than the mariners one, and were 1-1 at the end, which was an improvement... little steps, little steps. ;)
Post hoc
Guest
I heard the comments that they couldn't believe how many channels showed football in the Kingdom, it was like 6 or 7 channels just showing football from different parts of the world. I liked Peacocks comments about the fan site in Parramatta, he said we are going to make sure we count every single one of those and add them to our total LOL