Lucas Is The Man As Gamba Osaka Claim Asian Club Title

At Adelaide, Australia:

Lucas Severino's early first-half goals (4',15') provided all the scoring on Wednesday as Gamba Osaka blanked hosts Adelaide United 2-0 in game two to win the AFC Champions League final two-match series 5-0 on aggregate. Here's Cool Hand Luke, seen here, scoring one of his two goals in this Rob Griffith photo from Associated Press.

Gamba Osaka will now move on to next month's FIFA Club World Cup tournament, which will be played in Japan.

AFC Champions League Final: Gamba Put Hurt On Adelaide United In Opener

At Osaka, Japan:

Gamba Osaka, with goals from Lucas Severino (37'), Yasuhito Endo (43'), and Michihiro Yasuda (68'), overpowered visiting Adelaide United 3-0 in the opening match of the AFC Champions League on Wednesday. The second and final match is scheduled to be played in Adelaide, Australia next Wednesday.

Gamba Osaka And Adelaide United In Finals For Asian Club Championship

The semifinal round of the AFC Champions League concluded Wednesday.

At Saitama, Japan:

Satoshi Yamaguchi (51'), Tomokazu Myojn (72'), and Yasuhito Endu (77') provided the goalpower that propelled Gamba Osaka to a 3-1 road win in game two against the Uwara Red Diamonds, thus enabling Gamba to win their two-match set, 4-2 on aggregate.

At Tashkent, Uzbekistan:

Despite losing game two on the road 1-0 (Anvarjon Soliev scoring the game's lone goal at 78 minutes), Adelaide United still reached the final as they won their two-match set with FC Bunyodkor on aggregate, 3-1.

The AFC Champions League final will be a two-match, home-and-away series, with the opening contest to be played in Osaka, Japan on November 5, and the return match in Adelaide, Australia on November 12.

AFC Champions League Semis: Easy Game One Win For Adelaide United; Deadlock In Japan

The semifinal round of the 2008 AFC Champions League opened Wednesday with the first match of the two-game total-goals series:

At Osaka, Japan:

Yasuhito Endo's successful penalty kick at 81 minutes enabled Gamba Osaka to salvage a 1-1 home draw with the Uwara Red Diamonds in the two-match series opener for both clubs. Hajime Hosogai put the visiting Reds on the scoreboard in the 21st minute with his goal.

At Adelaide, Australia:

Goals courtesy of Diego Walsh (57'), Fabian Barbiero (76'), and Cristiano dos Santos Rodrigues (PK-89') enabled Adelaide United to bust open a game that was scoreless at halftime and belt visiting FC Bunyodkor (Uzbekistan) 3-0 in game one of their two-match series.

Both series are scheduled to resume on October 22.

AFC Champions League: There'll Be A Japanese Club In The Finals

The quarterfinal round of the AFC Champions League concluded Wednesday:

At Osaka, Japan:

Masato Yamazaki (83') and Ronieliton (Roni) dos Santos (85') provided the late second half scoring to lift Gamba Osaka to a 2-0 game two home victory over Al-Karamah (Syria), enabling the Japanese club to take their two-match set 4-1 on aggregate.

At Saitama, Japan:

The Uwara Red Diamonds overturned their 3-2 road defeat of last week with a 2-0 home win to take their two-match set with Al Qadisiya Kuwait 4-3 on aggregate. Takahito Soma (31') and Marcus Tulio Tanaka (54') provided the critical tallies for the Reds.

Gamba Osaka and the Uwara Reds will face off in a two-match semifinal series, beginning October 8 at Osaka, Japan.

At Tashkent, Uzbekistan:

Coming off their 2-2 road draw of last week, FC Bunyodkor, thanks to Jose Luis Villanueva's hat trick (9', PK-19', 52') exploded offensively as they Iran Salpa FC at home 5-1 in game two to take their two-game series 7-3 on aggregate.

At Adelaide, Australia:

Robert Cornthwaite scored the lone goal (72') of game two, which saw Adelaide United defeat visiting Kashima Antlers 1-0 and win the two-match set 2-1 on aggregate.

Adelaide United will visit FC Bunyodkor in game one of their two-game semifinal series at Tashkent, Uzbekistan on Wednesday, October 8.

AFC Champions League: Knockout Stage Begins

Quarterfinal round play started Wednesday in the 2008 AFC Champions League:

At Kashima, Japan:

Visiting Adelaide United (Australia) and Kashima Antlers battled to a 1-1 draw in game one of the two clubs' two-match home-and-away series. Adelaide's Robert Cornwaite's own goal (44') enabled the Antlers to salvage the home draw. His Adelaide teammate Travis Dodd had scored at 38 minutes to give the Australian club a short-lived 1-0 lead.

At Kuwait City, Kuwait:

Goals from Ibrahima Keita (17'), Selim Ben Achour (57'), and Nawaf Al Mutairi (PK-84') led homestanding Al Qadislya Kuwait to a 3-2 series-opening win over Japan's Uwara Red Diamonds.

At Karaj, Iran:

Visiting FC Bunyodkor (Uzbekitstan) and Salpa FC battled to a 2-2 game-one deadlock. Jose Luis Villanueva (17') and Rivaldo (20') scored for the guests, while Iman Razzaghi-Rad (19') and Kianoush Rahmati (40') tallied for the hosts.

At Homs, Syria:

Secondd-half goals courtesy of Satoshi Yamagouchi (70') and Masato Yamazaki (76') lifted Japan's Gamba Osaka to a 2-1, come-from-behind, road win in game one against Syria's Al-Karamah.

Anything To Get Their Clubs Into The AFC (Asia) Champions League

Looks like India's nascent pro soccer league is going to be put in the hands of a private company:

India's nascent professional soccer league will be placed in the hands of a private company to meet eligibility rules for clubs to play in Asia's Champions League.
The Indian soccer federation and the clubs will have equity in the company that will take over for the second season of the I-League starting in September, the federation said in a statement on Tuesday after an executive meeting. The Asian Football Confederation and world governing body FIFA have been pushing India to raise the standard of the game, to tap talent in the vast nation with a booming economy.

Remeber, this is a country whose national team had qualified for the 1950 FIFA World Cup only to withdraw after officials insisted that their players wear shoes. They haven't qualified since.