Football
Associated Press 9y

Western Sydney Wanderers land historic Asian Champions League title

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia -- Western Sydney Wanderers became the first Australian team to win the Asian Champions League on Saturday after holding Saudi Arabian club Al Hilal to a 0-0 draw in the second leg of the final for a 1-0 aggregate victory.

Sydney spent most of the game defending as the Saudi powerhouse poured forward in waves off attack in front of a frenetic home crowd, but goalkeeper Ante Covic made a string of saves to keep the two-time champions scoreless for a second straight game.

Al Hilal appealed for a penalty shortly before half-time when Nawaf Al Abed appeared to be brought down by Antony Golec in the area, and continued protesting when leaving the field for the break.

In the first leg in Sydney last weekend, Tomi Juric scored the only goal in a 1-0 win for the Wanderers.

"It's a little tough to sink in at the moment," coach Tony Popovic told Fox Sports. "Obviously [I am] very proud of the players. I think it'll sink in once we get out of this stadium.

"[It's a] marvellous achievement from the players, the club, Australian football. We're the champions of Asia - dreams do come true.

"You can name so many [top players] throughout today and throughout the whole campaign. But that resilience, yup, I'll give you that one for now. But there are so many more I'm sure we'll talk about the next few days.

"It's a special group to coach. They never know when they're beaten. They've made history tonight."

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