Scolari fails in AFC Champions League bid
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Football: Scolari fails in AFC Champions League bid
TOKYO: Former Chelsea boss Luiz Felipe Scolari failed in his bid Wednesday to steer new club Bunyodkor into the semi-finals of the AFC Champions League, with the Uzbek giants blowing their chance.
Bunyodkor came into the match against Korean FA Cup holders Pohang Steelers with a 3-1 first leg advantage, but the money-rich club were outplayed.
They were down 3-0 after a Kim Jae-Sung strike and Denilson brace and staring at defeat when Victor Karpenko hauled them out of trouble with a 90th minute goal to level the aggregate score and take the match to extra-time.But with Bunyodkor's star player Rivaldo looking every one of his 37 years, the Koreans deservedly booked their place in the last four when Stevica Ristic rose above two defenders to head the decider after 102 minutes.
It gave them a 4-1 home victory on the night and a 5-4 aggregate win.
The defeat will be hugely disappointing for Brazil's Scolari, who was enticed to Tashkent in June and after being fired by Chelsea and is now reportedly the highest paid coach in the world, pipping Jose Mourinho at Inter Milan.
Pohang's reward is a semi-final against Qatar's Umm Salal, who beat FC Seoul 4-3 on aggregate to deny an all-Korean semi.
AFC Champions League quarter-final second leg results:
Pohang Steelers (KOR) 4 Bunyodkor (UZB) 1
(Pohang win 5-4 on aggregate)
Nagoya Grampus (JPN) 3 Kawasaki Frontale 1
(Nagoya win 4-3 on aggregate)
FC Seoul (KOR) 1 Umm Salal (QAT) 1
(Umm Salal win 4-3 on aggregate)
Al Ittihad (KSA) 4 Pakhtakor (UZB) 0
(Al Ittihad win 5-1 on aggregate)