2010 AFC Champions League

2010 AFC Champions League

Tournament details
Dates	30 January – 13 November 2010
Teams	37 (from 15 associations)
Final positions
Champions	Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma (2nd title)
Runners-up	Zob Ahan
Tournament statistics
Matches played	122
Goals scored	353 (2.89 per match)
Attendance	1,442,242 (11,822 per match)
Top scorer(s)	José Mota (9 goals)
Best player	Saša Ognenovski

The 2010 AFC Champions League was the 29th edition of the top-level Asian club football tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), and the 8th under the current AFC Champions League title. The Final was held at the Olympic Stadium, Tokyo on 13 November 2010.^[1] The winner, Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma qualified for the 2010 FIFA Club World Cup in UAE. As in previous years, Nike provided the official ball for all matches with a new Nike Total 90 Ascente model used throughout the season.

Qualification

The preliminary qualification scheme for the AFC 2010 was released in 2008.^[2] A total of 38 clubs were due to participate in the 2010 AFC Champions League (eventually reduced to 37).

AFC assessment ranking

West Asia Pos Member Association Points (total 500) Clubs Spots Group stage Play-off AFC Cup 4 Saudi Arabia 365 12 4 0 0 5 UAE 356 12 3 1 0 7 Iran 340 18 4 0 0 9 Uzbekistan 289 16 2 0 1 10 Qatar 270 10 2 0 0 13 India 202 10 0 1 1 Meet the criteria Do not meet the criteria

East Asia Pos Member Association Points (total 500) Clubs Spots Group stage Play-off AFC Cup 1 Japan 470 18 4 0 0 2 Korea Republic 441 14 4 0 0 3 China PR 431 16 4 0 0 6 Australia 343 7+1^† 2 0 0 8 Indonesia 296 18 1 1 0 11 Singapore 279 12 0 1 1 12 Thailand 221 16 0 1 1 14 Vietnam 191 14 0 0 2 ^† One of the A-League clubs, Wellington Phoenix, is based in New Zealand, an OFC member country, therefore not being eligible to compete in the ACL.

Allocation of entries

Qualifying play-off (8 teams)

• United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, India, Vietnam each have 1 team qualify
• AFC Cup 2009 finalists

However, Al Kuwait, the 2009 AFC Cup winners, were removed as their league did not meet the Champions League criteria.

Group stage (32 teams)

• 2 qualifying play-off winners
• 4 teams qualify: Iran, China PR, Japan, Korea Republic, Saudi Arabia
• 3 teams qualify: United Arab Emirates
• 2 teams qualify: Australia, Uzbekistan, Qatar
• 1 team qualify: Indonesia

Qualifying teams

The following is the list of participants confirmed by the AFC.^[3][4]

West Asia (Groups A–D) Team Qualifying method App* Last App Esteghlal 2008–09 Persian Gulf Cup champions 3rd 2009 Zob Ahan 2008–09 Persian Gulf Cup runners-up 2008–09 Hazfi Cup winners 2nd 2004 Mes Kerman 2008–09 Persian Gulf Cup 3rd place 1st Sepahan 2008–09 Persian Gulf Cup 4th place 6th 2009 Al-Ittihad 2008–09 Saudi Professional League champions 6th 2009 Al-Shabab 2009 King Cup of Champions winners 5th 2009 Al-Hilal 2008–09 Saudi Professional League runners-up 6th 2009 Al-Ahli 2008–09 Saudi Professional League 3rd place 4th 2008 Al-Ahli 2008–09 UAE Pro-League champions 4th 2009 Al-Ain 2008–09 UAE Presidents Cup winners 6th 2007 Al-Jazira 2008–09 UAE Pro-League runners-up 2nd 2009 Al-Gharafa 2008–09 Qatar Stars League champions 2009 Emir of Qatar Cup winners 5th 2009 Al-Sadd 2008–09 Qatar Stars League runners-up 7th 2008 Bunyodkor 2009 Uzbek League champions 3rd 2009 Pakhtakor 2009 Uzbekistani Cup winners 8th 2009 Qualifying play-off participants Churchill Brothers 2008–09 I-League champions 2nd 2002–03 Al-Karamah 2009 AFC Cup runners-up 4th 2008 Al-Wahda 2008–09 UAE Pro-League 4th place 5th 2008

East Asia (Groups E–H) Team Qualifying method App* Last App Beijing Guoan 2009 Chinese Super League champions 3rd 2009 Changchun Yatai 2009 Chinese Super League runners-up 2nd 2008 Henan Construction 2009 Chinese Super League 3rd place 1st Shandong Luneng Taishan 2009 Chinese Super League 4th place 4th 2009 Kashima Antlers 2009 J. League Division 1 champions 4th 2009 Kawasaki Frontale 2009 J. League Division 1 runners-up 3rd 2009 Gamba Osaka 2009 J. League Division 1 3rd place 2009–10 Emperor's Cup winners 4th 2009 Sanfrecce Hiroshima 2009 J. League Division 1 4th place 1st Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 2009 K-League champions 4th 2007 Suwon Samsung Bluewings 2009 Korean FA Cup winners 3rd 2009 Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma 2009 K-League runners-up 4th 2007 Pohang Steelers 2009 K-League 3rd place 3rd 2009 Melbourne Victory 2008–09 A-League premiers 2009 A-League Grand Final winners 2nd 2008 Adelaide United 2008–09 A-League regular season runners-up 3rd 2008 Persipura Jayapura 2008–09 Indonesia Super League champions 1st Qualifying play-off participants Sriwijaya 2008–09 Piala Indonesia winners 2nd 2009 Singapore Armed Forces 2009 S.League champions 2nd 2009 Muangthong United 2009 Thai Premier League champions 1st Đà Nẵng 2009 V-League champions 2nd 2006

* Number of appearances (including qualifying rounds) since the 2002/03 season, when the competition was rebranded as the AFC Champions League

Schedule

The ACL 2010 schedule was released on 17 July 2009.^[5] It will have the same format as the 2009 AFC Champions League.

Date Event 7 December Draw for qualifying play-off, group stage, and round of 16 30 January Qualifying play-off semi-finals 6 February Qualifying play-off finals 23–24 February Group stage Match Day 1 9–10 March Group stage Match Day 2 23–24 March Group stage Match Day 3 30–31 March Group stage Match Day 4 13–14 April Group stage Match Day 5

Date Event 27–28 April Group stage Match Day 6 11–12 May Round of 16 25 May Draw for remaining rounds[6] 15 September Quarter-finals 1st leg 22 September Quarter-finals 2nd leg 6 October Semi-finals 1st leg 20 October Semi-finals 2nd leg 13 November Final (National Stadium, Tokyo, Japan)[1]

Qualifying play-off

The teams have been divided into two zones. East has four teams while West has three after AFC Cup champions Kuwait SC's failure to fulfil the criteria set by AFC to compete in the play-offs.^[7] The draw for the qualifying play-off was held on 7 December 2009 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.^[8] All losers from the qualifying play-off will enter the 2010 AFC Cup.

Team 1	Score	Team 2
West Asia Semi-final
Al-Karamah	0–1	Al-Wahda
West Asia Final
Al-Wahda	5–2	Churchill Brothers
East Asia Semi-finals
Singapore Armed Forces	3–0	Sriwijaya
SHB Đà Nẵng	0–3	Muangthong United
East Asia Final
Singapore Armed Forces	0–0 (aet)(4–3p)	Muangthong United

Group stage

The draw for the group stage was held on 7 December 2009 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.^[8]

Each club plays double round-robin (home and away) against fellow three group members, a total of 6 matches each. Clubs receive 3 points for a win, 1 point for a tie, 0 points for a loss. The clubs are ranked according to points and tie breakers are in following order:

1. Greater number of points obtained in the group matches between the teams concerned;
2. Goal difference resulting from the group matches between the teams concerned; (Away goals do not apply)
3. Greater number of goals scored in the group matches between the teams concerned; (Away goals do not apply)
4. Goal difference in all the group matches;
5. Greater number of goals scored in all the group matches;
6. Kicks from the penalty mark if only two teams are involved and they are both on the field of play;
7. Fewer score calculated according to the number of yellow and red cards received in the group matches; (1 point for each yellow card, 3 points for each red card as a consequence of two yellow cards, 3 points for each direct red card, 4 points for each yellow card followed by a direct red card)
8. Drawing of lots.

Winners and runners-up of each group will qualify for the next round.

Group A

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Al-Gharafa 6 4 1 1 11 9 +2 13 Esteghlal 6 3 2 1 9 5 +4 11 Al-Ahli 6 2 0 4 11 9 +2 6 Al-Jazira 6 1 1 4 6 14 −8 4

AHL GHA JAZ EST Al-Ahli 0–1 5–1 1–2 Al-Gharafa 3–2 4–2 1–1 Al-Jazira 0–2 1–2 2–1 Esteghlal 2–1 3–0 0–0

Group B

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Zob Ahan 6 4 1 1 8 3 +5 13 Bunyodkor 6 3 1 2 10 7 +3 10 Al-Ittihad Jeddah 6 2 2 2 9 7 +2 8 Al-Wahda 6 1 0 5 3 13 −10 3

ITT WAH BUN ZOB Al-Ittihad 4–0 1–1 2–2 Al-Wahda 0–2 1–2 1–0 Bunyodkor 3–0 4–1 0–1 Zob Ahan 1–0 1–0 3–0

Group C

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Al-Shabab 6 3 1 2 10 8 +2 10 Pakhtakor 6 3 0 3 8 10 −2 9 Sepahan 6 2 2 2 5 5 0 8 Al-Ain 6 2 1 3 8 8 0 7

AIN SHB PAK SEP Al-Ain 2–1 0–1 2–0 Al-Shabab 3–2 2–1 1–1 Pakhtakor 3–2 1–3 2–1 Sepahan 0–0 1–0 2–0

Group D

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Al-Hilal 6 3 2 1 11 7 +4 11 Mes Kerman 6 3 0 3 13 13 0 9 Al-Sadd 6 2 2 2 12 9 +3 8 Al-Ahli 6 1 2 3 9 16 −7 5

AHL HIL SAD MES Al-Ahli 2–3 0–5 2–1 Al-Hilal 1–1 0–0 3–1 Al-Sadd 2–2 0–3 4–1 Mes Kerman 4–2 3–1 3–1

Group E

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma 6 5 0 1 11 6 +5 15 Beijing Guoan 6 3 1 2 7 5 +2 10 Kawasaki Frontale 6 2 0 4 8 8 0 6 Melbourne Victory 6 1 1 4 3 10 −7 4

BEI KAW MEL SEO Beijing Guoan 2–0 1–0 0–1 Kawasaki Frontale 1–3 4–0 3–0 Melbourne Victory 0–0 1–0 0–2 Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma 3–1 2–0 3–2

Group F

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Kashima Antlers 6 6 0 0 14 3 +11 18 Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 6 4 0 2 17 6 +11 12 Changchun Yatai 6 1 0 5 10 7 +3 3 Persipura Jayapura 6 1 0 5 4 29 −25 3

CHA JEO KAS JAY Changchun Yatai 1–2 0–1 9–0 Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors 1–0 1–2 8–0 Kashima Antlers 1–0 2–1 5–0 Persipura Jayapura 2–0 1–4 1–3

Group G

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Suwon Samsung Bluewings 6 4 1 1 13 4 +9 13 Gamba Osaka 6 3 3 0 11 5 +6 12 Singapore Armed Forces 6 1 1 4 6 16 −10 4 Henan Construction 6 0 3 3 3 8 −5 3

OSA HEN SAF SUW Gamba Osaka 1–1 3–0 2–1 Henan Construction 1–1 0–0 0–2 Singapore Armed Forces 2–4 2–1 0–2 Suwon Samsung Bluewing 0–0 2–0 6–2

Group H

Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Adelaide United 6 3 1 2 6 4 +2 10 Pohang Steelers 6 3 1 2 8 7 +1 10 Sanfrecce Hiroshima 6 3 0 3 11 11 0 9 Shandong Luneng 6 2 0 4 5 8 −3 6

ADE POH HIR SHA Adelaide United 1–0 3–2 0–1 Pohang Steelers 0–0 2–1 1–0 Sanfrecce Hiroshima 1–0 4–3 0–1 Shandong Luneng 0–2 1–2 2–3

Knockout stage

Bracket

	Round of 16				Quarter-finals						Semi-finals						Final
	Adelaide United	2
	Jeonbuk Motors (aet)	3
					Jeonbuk Motors	0	1	1
					Al-Shabab	2	0	2
	Al-Shabab	3
	Esteghlal	2
											Al-Shabab	4	0	4
										Seongnam Ihwa (a)	3	1	4
	Seongnam Ilhwa	3
	Gamba Osaka	0
					Seongnam Ilhwa	4	0	4
					Suwon Bluewings	1	2	3
	Suwon Bluewings	2
	Beijing Guoan	0
																Seongnam Ilhwa	3
																	Zob Ahan	1
	Zob Ahan	1
	Mes Kerman	0
					Zob Ahan	2	1	3
					Pohang Steelers	1	1	2
	Kashima Antlers	0
	Pohang Steelers	1
											Zob Ahan	1	1	2
										Al-Hilal	0	0	0
	Al-Hilal	3
	Bunyodkor	0
					Al-Hilal (aet)	3	2	5
					Al-Gharafa	0	4	4
	Al-Gharafa	1
	Pakhtakor	0

Round of 16

The draw for the round of 16 was held on 7 December 2009, along with the draw for the qualifying play-off and group stage. The matches were played on 11 and 12 May 2010.

Team 1	Score	Team 2
West Asia
Al-Gharafa	1–0	Pakhtakor
Al-Shabab	3–2	Esteghlal
Zob Ahan	1–0	Mes Kerman
Al-Hilal	3–0	Bunyodkor
East Asia
Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma	3–0	Gamba Osaka
Suwon Samsung Bluewings	2–0	Beijing Guoan
Kashima Antlers	0–1	Pohang Steelers
Adelaide United	2–3 (aet)	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors

Quarter-finals

The draw for the remaining rounds was held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 25 May 2010.^[9] Because of the country protection rule, if there are two clubs from the same country, they will not face each other in the quarter-finals. Therefore, the two clubs from Saudi Arabia may not be drawn with each other in the quarter-finals. However, the same rule does not apply if there are more than two clubs from the country. Therefore, the four clubs from the Korea Republic may be drawn with each other in the quarter-finals.^[10]

The first legs were played on 15 September, and the second legs were played on 22 September 2010.

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Al-Hilal	5–4	Al-Gharafa	3–0	2–4 (aet)
Zob Ahan	3–2	Pohang Steelers	2–1	1–1
Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors	1–2	Al-Shabab	0–2	1–0
Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma	4–3	Suwon Samsung Bluewings	4–1	0–2

Semi-finals

The first legs were played on 5 and 6 October, and the second legs were played on 20 October 2010.

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Al-Shabab	4–4 (a)	Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma	4–3	0–1
Zob Ahan	2–0	Al-Hilal	1–0	1–0

Final

The final was played on 13 November 2010. It was a one-leg match played at the National Stadium, Tokyo, Japan.

Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma v Zob Ahan

13 November 2010 19:00 (JST)

Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma	3 – 1	Zob Ahan
Saša  29' Cho Byung-Kuk  53' Kim Chul-ho  83'	Report	Khalatbari  67'

National Olympic Stadium, Tokyo Attendance: 27,308 Referee: Yuichi Nishimura (Japan)

Winners

AFC Champions League 2010 Winners
Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma Second Title

Top scorers

Note: Goals scored in qualifying round not counted.

Rank	Player	Club	MD1	MD2	MD3	MD4	MD5	MD6	R16	QF1	QF2	SF1	SF2	0F0	Total
1	José Mota	Suwon Samsung Bluewings		1	2	1	1	2	2						9
2	Mauricio Molina	Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma	1			1			2	1		2			7
3	Denilson	FC Bunyodkor	1	2				2							5
	Mohammad Reza Khalatbari	Zob Ahan			1	1		1			1			1	5
	Farhad Majidi	Esteghlal	2		2			1							5
	Leandro	Al-Sadd		3	2										5
	Flávio	Al-Shabab		2		2		1							5
	Araújo	Al-Gharafa		1			3		1						5
	Eninho	Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors		1			2		2						5
	Mehdi Rajabzadeh	Mes Kerman / Zob Ahan	2				1	1		1					5
	Yasser Al-Qahtani	Al-Hilal	2	1		1					1				5

Notes and references

1. Tokyo to host 2010 AFC Champions League final
2. Final assessment
3. Champions’ line-up for 2010 AFC Champions League
4. Karamah vying for ACL 2010 play-off glory
5. "ACL 2010 match schedule approved". AFC. 17 July 2009. Archived from the original on 21 July 2009. Retrieved 17 July 2009.
6. & AFC Cup knockout stage draw
7. ACL 2010 play-off format confirmed
8. Intriguing clashes aplenty in ACL
9. Explosive encounters set to light up ACL
10. Open ACL draw for Koreans; Saudis separated

External links

• AFC Champions League Official Page (English)
• 2010 AFC Champions League at ESPN