SEOUL-- Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors have come up a victory shy of contending for the Asian club football supremacy.
Jeonbuk lost to Urawa Red Diamonds 3-1 on penalties Thursday in the semifinals of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League at Saitama Stadium 2002 in Saitama, Japan.
Two of Jeonbuk's first three penalty takers were denied by Urawa goalkeeper Shusaku Nishikawa. After Jeonbuk's fourth kicker, Kim Jin-su, hit the right goal post, Ataru Esaka converted his chance for Reds to send the J1 League team to the championship final.
Saitama Stadium 2002, just outside Tokyo, serves as Urawa's home during J1 League play, and the stadium was packed with partisan supporters decked out in Urawa's signature color of red.
Jeonbuk went into extra time in all three knockout matches they played. And after two consecutive wins, their magic ran out in the hostile confines.
Yusuke Matsuo converted a pass from Hiroki Sakai in the 11th minute to put Urawa on the board.
The teams traded a few chances in the rest of the first half, with Park Jin-seop and Ryu Jae-moon missing the target in the late moments before halftime.
Jeonbuk pulled even in the 55th minute thanks to Paik Seung-ho's penalty. Ayumu Ohata received the yellow card for fouling Song Min-kyu in the area -- the call was confirmed following a review by the video assistant referee -- and Paik beat goalkeeper Shusaku Nishikawa to the bottom left corner.
Urawa nearly sealed the deal during the stoppage time of the second half, with Kasper Junker striking the left post with a left-footed shot from inside the box. Ataru Esaka tried to slot home the rebound, but goalkeeper Lee Bum-soo turned it aside to keep the match deadlocked.
In the 30-minute extra time, Jeonbuk thought they had the match wrapped up when Han Kyo-won gave them the lead with about 26 minutes into the session.
But the K League 1 side couldn't hold on, as Junker improbably brought Urawa level with his shot off a rebound in the 120th minute.
In the ensuing shootout, Kim Bo-kyung had his shot saved by Nishikawa in the bottom left corner, while Alexander Scholz scored for Reds. Lee Seung-gi, Jeonbuk's second kicker, went for the center of the net, and Nishikawa met the challenge. Junker converted his shot to put Urawa up 2-0.
Park Jin-seob got Jeonbuk's first successful penalty, and Jeonbuk custodian Lee Bum-soo saved a shot by David Moberg Karlsson to keep Jeonbuk's hope alive.
But it was all but dashed when Kim Jin-su struck the right post with a shot that had Nishikawa fooled. Esaka then stepped up to score and whipped Reds supporters into a frenzy.
Source: Yonhap News Agency