Asian Roundup

Dalian Shide, Al Ain advance to semifinals

BEIJING (AP) -- Dalian Shide of China and Al Ain of the United Arab Emirates advanced to the semifinals of the Asian Champions League on Saturday after winning their final group matches.

Hao Haidong scored three goals as Dalian Shide beat South Korea's Seongnam Ilhwa 3-1 in Group B, and Al Ain topped Iran's Esteghlal 3-1 in Group C. The two teams are scheduled to meet in a two-leg series in April.

The other two semifinalists are BEC Tero Sasana of Thailand and Pakhtakor of Uzbekistan. Those two teams will also meet in April.

Faisal Ali opened the scoring for Al Ain in the 66th minute, but Ahmad Khoenjan equalized from a goalmouth melee in the 75th. Boubacar Sanogo netted the game winner less than a minute later and Gharib Hareb got the insurance in the 77th.

Kim Dae-eui scored Seongnam Ilhwa's only goal.

In other matches Saturday, Ahn Jung-hwan and Kazumichi Yakagi scored two goals apiece as Japan's Shimizu S-Pulse trounced Thailand's Osotspa 7-0.

Masaaki Sawanobori, Alessandro Santos and Hideaki Kitajima also scored goals for Shimizu S-Pulse.

Also, Qatar's Al Sadd beat Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia 3-1.

Abdul Kader Kelta, Sergio Messiansneves and Nasser Mubarak scored for the winners while Abdullah Al Dosary netted for Al Hilal.

The Asian confederation launched the U.S. $3 million continent-wide club competition in August. Modeled on the European Champions League, the tournament is the richest in Asia and replaces three existing tournaments. Officials say it will raise soccer standards across Asia.

 

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