Western Sydney Wanderers did not exist three years ago, yet they are now the club champions of Asia and the first Australian squad to ever win the AFC Champions League. How did this happen? Nobody is quite sure, but it is an incredible achievement. A team that is just starting their third season defeated some of the biggest and best on the continent on the way to the final. A 1-0 win at home over Saudi Arabian giant Al Hilal was followed by a 0-0 tie in Riyadh on Saturday evening. "Dreams do come true." said coach Tony Popovic minutes after the whistle and not for the first time in this tournament, the 41 year-old got it exactly right.
It was not pretty, though at times it was beautiful. Rarely in Asia has a team played with such defensive discipline, belief and intelligence. The Wanderers had their backs to the wall for much of the 180 minutes yet emerged triumphant. The only goal came courtesy of Tomi Juric in the 64th minute of the first leg down under, but there was plenty to talk about.
It is unfair on the Wanderers and all their hard work to focus on the referee. But like Croatia in the opening game of the World Cup against Brazil, the 60,000-plus fans in the King Fahd Stadium, all but the 14 who had made the journey from Australia and a smattering of expats, were left shaking their heads at the decisions of referee Yuichi Nishimura.
Nishimura was criticised for awarding an easy penalty to the hosts in the opening game of the World Cup in June, and the official seemed determined not to be accused of the same in the final clash of the Asian Champions League. Four penalties were demanded from Al Hilal and three should have been awarded. A first half handball would have been softer than the Rio decision, yet Brendon Santalab's arms in second half warranted a spot kick. In addition, Nawaf Al Abid and Salman Al Faraj were both fouled in the area. The whistle was never blown.
The second leg hosts were certainly upset at the end. Moments before the final whistle, Nasser Al Shamrani, desperately searching for an 11th goal in the tournament, headbutted Matthew Spiranovic. That went unseen by the referee, though the striker may be in more trouble for appearing to spit at the opposition as they started their celebrations. It was an unseemly end.
But while Al Hilal will point at the referee, they had enough chances over 180 minutes of football in this final. The first leg saw the Saudis dominate possession only to be caught by a second half Juric sucker punch and while there was no goal in the second leg, the hosts had more possession, more chances and still failed to score.
Sometimes a cliché can you serve you well. At the end of the day, it is 11 against 11. You can take the backing from a member of the Saudi royal family. You can take the millions that come from sponsorship and television deals, you can take the massive stadium, the size of the club and even the desperation for Asian success. But when you have 11 on the pitch from Western Sydney Wanderers, a team that operates under an annual salary cap of $2.5 million Australian dollars ($2.2 million U.S.), who can defend with discipline, desire and downright doggedness, then the opposition need something special. Al Hilal did not have it. The Wanderers did in the shape of Ante Covic.
Some may blame Nishimura for the loss but it is the 39 year-old shot stopper that will loom as large in the nightmares of Saudi fans as he did in between the posts for the Al Hilal attackers. He made save after save, block after block, catch after catch. Impressive in the first leg, amazing in the second and quite rightly named as the tournament's MVP, Covic is in with a great chance of becoming Asia's Player of the Year.
Even with the keeper in such great form, it was a long 90 minutes as expected. Also as expected, the match followed a similar pattern from the first leg. Al Hilal had all the possession. As the clock ticked, the pressure mounted. Western Sydney looked less nervous in the opening stages than a week previously, perhaps because they knew what was coming. The Saudis pushed forward from the start looking for the goal that would surely change everything. But just like a week previously, there was no way through.
This time though, the chances were better in terms of quantity and quality. Brazilian defender Digao went close early on, Nasser Al Shamrani and Yasser Al Qahtani, introduced in the second half, also came close on numerous occasions. Al Qahtani looked certain to score five minutes from time yet Covic somehow managed to turn the low shot around the post. The visitors had the odd chance to get the away goal that would have removed all doubt long before the final whistle, but that never looked likely, even when first leg hero and goalscorer Juric was introduced in the second half. This was all about protecting what they had.
At the start of the game, what they had was a narrow first leg lead. What they have now is the Asian title. Not only that, there is the small matter of the FIFA Club World Cup in December and a possible game with Real Madrid. This Western Sydney team will embrace such opposition. This team does not do fear. There may have been some luck and a lot of doggedness along the way, but the Wanderers are worthy Asian champions