Tournament debutants Machida Zelvia of Japan were beaten in the final of the Asian Champions League Elite on Saturday after going down 1-0 against 10-man reigning champions Al Ahli Saudi of Saudi Arabia.
Go Kuroda-managed Machida, who have only two J-League first-division campaigns under their belts, had a man advantage after Zakaria Hawsawi’s 68th-minute sending off but Feras Al Brikan hit the 96th-minute winner for Al Ahli Saudi at their King Abdullah Sports City Hall Stadium in Jeddah packed with home supporters.
“We’re in our third year in the J1 and a team on an annual salary of less than a 10th (of Al Ahli). This will become our asset,” said Kuroda, in charge of Machida from 2023, then in the J2, after 28 years coaching at Aomori Yamada High School.
After netting against another J-League side, Vissel Kobe, in the semifinals, Al Ahli’s Brazilian winger Galeno had the chance to open the scoring in the 13th minute but had a one-on-one denied by a fine save from Machida keeper Kosei Tani on a counter.
Marshalled by captain and former Japan defender Gen Shoji, Machida put their bodies on the line to get to the break goalless with Al Ahli’s Merih Demiral having his close-range shot blocked before his follow-up skimmed the bar in the 42nd minute in a goalmouth scramble.
Machida then went a man up as Hawsawi headbutted Tete Yengi in the face in retaliation after the Machida attacker used his chest to push away the full back, followed by an attacking spell from the J1 side.
Hiroyuki Mae had a fierce drive from distance palmed away by Edouard Mendy, while the Al Ahli keeper also denied Yuki Soma from inside the box and Machida’s failure to make their pressure count came back to cost them in extra time.
A Riyad Mahrez cross was controlled by Franck Kessie at the far post and Al Brikan buried the ball into the net to give Al Ahli the crucial lead, leaving Machida needing to break down opponents happy to see out the game with men behind the ball.
Machida substitute Henry Heroki Mochizuki headed wide at the far post off Soma’s cross in the 103rd minute and that was as close as they got in the remainder of the match, with Galeno shooting over in the 116th minute at the other end.
“Not beating 10 men is everything. I’m frustrated,” said Shoji following the defeat to the side owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, for whom Mahrez on his own is believed to earn more than Machida’s 2024 annual sales of 5.8 billion yen ($36.4 million).
Mochizuki said, “The match wasn’t going in a bad way for us as we kept them away from scoring. But we couldn’t get back into the match after conceding.”
“We showed our defensive capability throughout the tournament. Honing our attacks to better those of our rivals is one way of winning the tournament.”