2008 AFC Champions League Final

The 2008 AFC Champions League Final was a two-legged football tie to determine the 2008 champions of Asian club football. Gamba Osaka defeated Adelaide United 5-0 on aggregate to take the title. The first leg took place on 5 November 2008 at 19:00 local time (UTC+9) at Osaka Expo '70 Stadium in Osaka and the second leg took place on 12 November 2008 at 19:30 local time (UTC+10:30) at Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide.

2008 AFC Champions League Final
Event2008 AFC Champions League
Gamba Osaka Adelaide United
5 0
First leg
Gamba Osaka Adelaide United
3 0
Date5 November 2008
VenueOsaka Expo '70 Stadium, Suita, Osaka
RefereeMalik Abdul Bashir
Attendance20,639
WeatherClear
17 °C (63 °F)[1]
Second leg
Adelaide United Gamba Osaka
0 2
Date12 November 2008
VenueHindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide
RefereeSubkhiddin Mohd Salleh
Attendance17,000
WeatherClear
28 °C (82 °F)[2]

This was the first final to feature a club from Australia and the second season in a row that a Japanese club has made it this far. The winners, Gamba Osaka, received US$600,000 prize money and qualified to represent Asia in the 2008 FIFA Club World Cup where they were defeated at the semi final stage by Premier League and UEFA Champions League winners Manchester United. Despite losing this final, Adelaide United also qualified for the FIFA Club World Cup by replacing the host country berth, which was provisionally reserved for the J. League champions, and were defeated once again by Gamba Osaka at the Quarter Final stage.

Format

The rules for the final were exactly the same as for the previous knockout rounds. The tie was contested over two legs with away goals deciding the winner if the two teams were level on goals after the second leg. If the teams could still not be separated at that stage then extra time would have been played with a penalty shootout taking place if the teams were still level after that.

Route to the final
Further information: 2008 AFC Champions League

Note: In all results below, the score of the finalist is given first (H: home; A: away).

Gamba Osaka Round Adelaide United
Opponent Result Group stage Opponent Result
Chonburi 1–1 (H) Matchday 1 Pohang Steelers 2–0 (A)
Chunnam Dragons 4–3 (A) Matchday 2 Changchun Yatai 0–0 (H)
Melbourne Victory 4–3 (A) Matchday 3 Bình Dương 2–1 (A)
Melbourne Victory 2–0 (H) Matchday 4 Bình Dương 4–1 (H)
Chonburi 2–0 (A) Matchday 5 Pohang Steelers 1–0 (H)
Chunnam Dragons 1–1 (H) Matchday 6 Changchun Yatai 0–0 (A)
Group G winner
Pos Team Pld Pts
1 Gamba Osaka 614
2 Melbourne Victory 67
3 Chunnam Dragons 66
4 Chonburi 65
 Final standings Group E winner
Pos Team Pld Pts
1 Adelaide United 614
2 Changchun Yatai 612
3 Pohang Steelers 65
4 Bình Dương 61
Opponent Agg. 1st leg 2nd leg Knock-out stage Opponent Agg. 1st leg 2nd leg
Al-Karamah 4–1 2–1 (A) 2–0 (H) Quarter-finals Kashima Antlers 2–1 1–1 (A) 1–0 (H)
Urawa Red Diamonds 4–2 1–1 (H) 3–1 (A) Semi-finals Bunyodkor 2–1 3–0 (H) 0–1 (A)

Pre-final buildup

Adelaide United considered applying for permission to play their home leg in a stadium larger than Hindmarsh such as Adelaide Oval or AAMI Stadium but the club eventually decided that it would not be right to play such a big match away from their traditional home despite its smaller capacity.[3]

Final summary
Team 1 Agg. Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Gamba Osaka 5–0 Adelaide United 3–0 2–0

First leg
Gamba Osaka 3 – 0 Adelaide United
Lucas  37'
Endo  43'
Yasuda  68'		 Report
Osaka Expo '70 Stadium, Osaka
Attendance: 20,639
Referee: Malik Abdul Bashir (Singapore)
Gamba Osaka
Adelaide United
GAMBA OSAKA:
GK22 Yosuke Fujigaya
DF2 Sota Nakazawa
DF5 Satoshi Yamaguchi (c)
DF21 Akira Kaji
MF7 Yasuhito Endo
MF10 Takahiro Futagawa
MF13 Michihiro Yasuda 75'
MF16 Hayato Sasaki 69'
MF17 Tomokazu Myojin 64'
MF27 Hideo Hashimoto
FW9 Lucas
Substitutes:
GK1 Naoki Matsuyo
DF3 Mineiro
DF6 Yohei Fukumoto
DF19 Takumi Shimohira 75'
FW11 Ryuji Bando
FW18 Roni 69'
FW30 Masato Yamazaki 64'
Manager:
Akira Nishino
ADELAIDE UNITED:
GK30 Eugene Galekovic 90'
DF4 Angelo Costanzo 41'
DF6 Cássio 84'
DF14 Scott Jamieson
DF18 Robert Cornthwaite
DF19 Sasa Ognenovski
MF7 Lucas Pantelis 73'
MF8 Kristian Sarkies 35'　
MF13 Travis Dodd (c)
MF22 Diego Walsh
FW10 Cristiano
Substitutes:
GK20 Mark Birighitti
DF5 Michael Valkanis
MF21 Jason Spagnuolo 73'
MF24 Paul Reid
MF26 Fabian Barbiero
FW25 Robert Younis 84'
Manager:
Aurelio Vidmar

Second leg
Adelaide United 0 – 2 Gamba Osaka
Report Lucas  4', 15'
Attendance: 17,000
Adelaide United
Gamba Osaka
ADELAIDE UNITED:
GK20 Mark Birighitti
DF5 Michael Valkanis 41'
DF6 Cássio
DF14 Scott Jamieson
DF18 Robert Cornthwaite
DF19 Sasa Ognenovski
MF8 Kristian Sarkies　 58'
MF13 Travis Dodd (c)
MF22 Diego Walsh 69'
MF24 Paul Reid
FW10 Cristiano 37' 69'
Substitutes:
MF7 Lucas Pantelis 69'
MF21 Jason Spagnuolo 58'
MF26 Fabian Barbiero
MF27 Matthew Mullen
FW25 Robert Younis 69'
Manager:
Aurelio Vidmar
GAMBA OSAKA:
GK22 Yosuke Fujigaya
DF2 Sota Nakazawa
DF5 Satoshi Yamaguchi (c)
DF21 Akira Kaji
MF7 Yasuhito Endo 68'
MF10 Takahiro Futagawa
MF13 Michihiro Yasuda 64'
MF16 Hayato Sasaki 58'
MF17 Tomokazu Myojin 81'
MF27 Hideo Hashimoto
FW9 Lucas
Substitutes:
GK1 Naoki Matsuyo
DF3 Mineiro
DF6 Yohei Fukumoto
DF19 Takumi Shimohira 83' 64'
FW11 Ryuji Bando 81'
FW18 Roni
FW30 Masato Yamazaki 58'
Manager:
Akira Nishino

See also

References
  1. http://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/RJBB/2008/11/5/DailyHistory.html?req_city=NA&req_state=NA&req_statename=NA
  2. http://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/YPAD/2008/11/12/DailyHistory.html?req_city=NA&req_state=NA&req_statename=NA
  3. "Adelaide toasted by Oz media". the-afc.com. 23 October 2008. Archived from the original on 28 December 2008. Retrieved 4 November 2008.
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