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, Japan and the second leg took place on 12 November 2008 at 19:30 local time (UTC+10:30) at Hindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide, Australia.

2008 AFC Champions League final
Event2008 AFC Champions League
First leg
Date5 November 2008
VenueOsaka Expo '70 Stadium, Suita, Osaka
RefereeMalik Abdul Bashir
Attendance20,639
WeatherClear
17 °C (63 °F)[1]
Second leg
Date12 November 2008
VenueHindmarsh Stadium, Adelaide
RefereeSubkhiddin Mohd Salleh
Attendance17,000
WeatherClear
28 °C (82 °F)[2]
2007
2009

It was the first final to feature a club from Australia and the second consecutive season with a Japanese finalist, in 2014 a second Australian club, the Western Sydney Wanderers made the final and won it. 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 in the semi-finals 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 in the quarter-finals.

Format

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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

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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 6 14
2   Melbourne Victory 6 7
3   Chunnam Dragons 6 6
4   Chonburi 6 5
Final standings Group E winner
Pos Team Pld Pts
1   Adelaide United 6 14
2   Changchun Yatai 6 12
3   Pohang Steelers 6 5
4   Bình Dương 6 1
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

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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

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Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Gamba Osaka   5–0   Adelaide United 3–0 2–0

First leg

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Gamba Osaka  3 – 0  Adelaide United
Lucas   37'
Endo   43'
Yasuda   68'
Report
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Gamba Osaka
 
 
 
 
 
Adelaide United
GAMBA OSAKA:
GK 22   Yosuke Fujigaya
DF 2   Sota Nakazawa
DF 5   Satoshi Yamaguchi (c)
DF 21   Akira Kaji
MF 7   Yasuhito Endo
MF 10   Takahiro Futagawa
MF 13   Michihiro Yasuda   75'
MF 16   Hayato Sasaki   69'
MF 17   Tomokazu Myojin   64'
MF 27   Hideo Hashimoto
FW 9   Lucas
Substitutes:
GK 1   Naoki Matsuyo
DF 3   Mineiro
DF 6   Yohei Fukumoto
DF 19   Takumi Shimohira   75'
FW 11   Ryuji Bando
FW 18   Roni   69'
FW 30   Masato Yamazaki   64'
Manager:
  Akira Nishino
ADELAIDE UNITED:
GK 30   Eugene Galekovic   90'
DF 4   Angelo Costanzo   41'
DF 6   Cássio   84'
DF 14   Scott Jamieson
DF 18   Robert Cornthwaite
DF 19   Sasa Ognenovski
MF 7   Lucas Pantelis   73'
MF 8   Kristian Sarkies   35' 
MF 13   Travis Dodd (c)
MF 22   Diego Walsh
FW 10   Cristiano
Substitutes:
GK 20   Mark Birighitti
DF 5   Michael Valkanis
MF 21   Jason Spagnuolo   73'
MF 24   Paul Reid
MF 26   Fabian Barbiero
FW 25   Robert Younis   84'
Manager:
  Aurelio Vidmar

Second leg

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Adelaide United  0 – 2  Gamba Osaka
Report Lucas   4', 15'
 
 
 
 
 
 
Adelaide United
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Gamba Osaka
ADELAIDE UNITED:
GK 20   Mark Birighitti
DF 5   Michael Valkanis   41'
DF 6   Cássio
DF 14   Scott Jamieson
DF 18   Robert Cornthwaite
DF 19   Sasa Ognenovski
MF 8   Kristian Sarkies    58'
MF 13   Travis Dodd (c)
MF 22   Diego Walsh   69'
MF 24   Paul Reid
FW 10   Cristiano   37'   69'
Substitutes:
MF 7   Lucas Pantelis   69'
MF 21   Jason Spagnuolo   58'
MF 26   Fabian Barbiero
MF 27   Matthew Mullen
FW 25   Robert Younis   69'
Manager:
  Aurelio Vidmar
GAMBA OSAKA:
GK 22   Yosuke Fujigaya
DF 2   Sota Nakazawa
DF 5   Satoshi Yamaguchi (c)
DF 21   Akira Kaji
MF 7   Yasuhito Endo   68'
MF 10   Takahiro Futagawa
MF 13   Michihiro Yasuda   64'
MF 16   Hayato Sasaki   58'
MF 17   Tomokazu Myojin   81'
MF 27   Hideo Hashimoto
FW 9   Lucas
Substitutes:
GK 1   Naoki Matsuyo
DF 3   Mineiro
DF 6   Yohei Fukumoto
DF 19   Takumi Shimohira   83'   64'
FW 11   Ryuji Bando   81'
FW 18   Roni
FW 30   Masato Yamazaki   58'
Manager:
  Akira Nishino

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Local Weather Forecast, News and Conditions | Weather Underground".
  2. ^ "Local Weather Forecast, News and Conditions | Weather Underground".
  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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