Al Ittihad, Al Ain on track for Champions League final
(Reuters)
Updated: 2005-09-29 11:12

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (Reuters) -- Holders Al Ittihad of Saudi Arabia made almost certain of their place in the AFC Champions League final by thrashing Pusan I-Park 5-0 in South Korea on Wednesday.

Al Ittihad are huge favorites to advance after the second leg in Jeddah on Oct. 12 and set up a likely all-Arab final against 2003 Asian champions Al Ain, who recorded a 6-0 rout in their semifinal first leg against China's Shenzhen Jianlibao.

Pusan went into the home game against Al Ittihad with a record of eight wins out of eight in the competition, including six group matches and its 5-1 aggregate victory over Qatar's Al Sadd in the quarterfinals.

Al Ittihad were without injured Cameroonian Joseph Desire Job, who is on loan from English Premier League Middlesbrough, and suspended captain Mohammed Noor.

But the Saudis still proved too strong for Ian Porterfield's side.

Al Ittihad took the lead 10 minutes into the second period through Marzouk Al Otaibi.

Mohamed Kallon (62) and Brazilian Tcheco (65) increased their advantage before Saud Ali Khariri added a fourth goal four minutes from time.

Substitute Hamzah Idris completed the scoring in the final minute.

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